Watchdog key system for data security in unmanned undersea vehicles

A method of protecting data at an underwater vehicle system, the method comprising:

• at a data pod, comprising persistent storage, storing encrypted data at the persistent storage;
• at a watchdog, comprising at least one processor, storing a watchdog key, wherein the watchdog key is stored in volatile storage, the watchdog key configured to be used to decrypt the encrypted data;
• and
• upon the watchdog detecting a condition where the encrypted data at the persistent storage needs to be protected, removing the watchdog key from the underwater vehicle system, thereby preventing access to the encrypted data on the data pod, wherein detecting a condition where the encrypted data at the persistent storage needs to be protected comprises detecting inability of the underwater vehicle system to move for a particular period of time.

A method of manufacturing an underwater vehicle system, the method comprising:

• providing a data security system, comprising:
• providing a data pod, comprising persistent storage, the persistent storage configured to store encrypted data;
• coupling a watchdog to the data pod, wherein the watchdog comprises at least one processor, wherein the watchdog is configured to store a watchdog key stored in volatile storage, the watchdog key configured to be used to decrypt the encrypted data;
• and
• configuring the data security system to remove the watchdog key from the underwater vehicle system upon the watchdog detecting a condition where the encrypted data at the persistent storage needs to be protected, thereby preventing access to the encrypted data on the data pod, wherein the condition where the encrypted data at the persistent storage needs to be protected comprises detecting inability of the underwater vehicle system to move for a particular period of time.