Does ArduPilot support log encryption? What logging features exist, and what you have implemented?

General Rants&Raves
1

Dear ArduPilot Team,

I wanted to prevent sensitive data from being read if a drone crashes, and also stop anyone from tampering with the logs. So I have mentioned the query below:

Q. Does the ArduPilot firmware currently include any native support for securing flight logs stored in Memory?

1. Does ArduPilot have built‑in encryption for flight logs – meaning the log file is automatically encrypted at the time of writing, making it unreadable to anyone?

2. If full encryption is not available, does ArduPilot provide any other native security mechanisms for logs, such as:

o Digital signing or hashing to verify log integrity and authenticity (prevent tampering)?

o Access control or authentication required to read the logs?

o Any hardware‑based security features (e.g., using a secure element or MCU unique ID) to protect log data?

3. If any encryption technique is not implemented, then what is the reason? Is it because you don’t feel its requirement, or is there any other reason?

Please clarify the exact capabilities and limitations of ArduPilot regarding native log encryption and security, as of the latest version available.

2

No, nope, zero. Ardupilot is civilian project, there is no reason to encrypt logs, besides implementing encryption that is resistant to attacks with hardware access is extremely hard and requires extensive validation.

Log signing wasn’t implemented because doing it to a satisfying level of security is also very hard and offers little benefit for hardware owner.

In both cases you can assume the attacker to have full hardware access they can use to decrypt logs or produce false signed logs.

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3

If you do not want unauthorized parties to be able to read or modify your logs, you can simply disable logging—either partially or completely. This function is not necessary for the stable operation of a drone.

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