A Federated Learning Framework for Enhanced Data Security and Cyber Intrusion Detection in Distributed Network of Underwater Drones

Underwater drones are vital for scientific research, environmental monitoring, and maritime operations, allowing data collection in challenging environments. However, their deployment faces issues such as low bandwidth, high latency, signal attenuation, and intermittent connectivity due to mobility and water currents. Traditional centralized data processing approaches are inefficient under these conditions as they require transmitting large volumes of raw data to a central location. To address these challenges, this study proposes a Federated Learning (FL) framework specifically tailored for underwater networks. Unlike centralized approaches, FL enables underwater drones to collaboratively train a global intrusion detection model by processing data locally and sharing only model updates with the central server. This approach significantly improves data security by ensuring that sensitive information never leaves the local devices, reducing the risk of interception or compromise during transmission. Furthermore, FL’s decentralized architectures inherently aligns with the dynamic and distributed nature of underwater drone networks. The proposed framework improves cyber intrusion detection by leveraging localized insights from individual drones to detect threats, including zero-day attacks, without directly exposing sensitive data. By preserving privacy and enabling collaborative anomaly detection, FL addresses key cybersecurity challenges in the Internet of Underwater Things (IoUT).