Aspects of the invention provide a method and system for securely managing the storage and retrieval of data. Securely managing the storage and retrieval of data may include receiving a first disaster recovery code and acquiring a first password corresponding to the first disaster recovery code. A first disaster recovery key may be generated based on the first disaster recovery code and the first password. Another aspect of the invention may also include generating the received first disaster recovery code based on said first password and the first disaster recovery key. The generated disaster recovery code may be securely stored on at least a portion of a storage device or a removable media. Data stored on the storage device may be encrypted using the first generated disaster recovery key. Additionally, data read from the storage device may be decrypted using the generated first disaster recovery key.