Air gap
Also called Air Gapping
Physically cutting a system off from any network so nothing can get in or out over a wire.
Think of it like
Keeping the crown jewels in a vault with no doors to the outside — you have to be in the room to touch them.
Example
A sensitive model’s weights are stored and run on machines with no internet connection, so a remote attacker has no path in.
How it actually works
An air gap is the strongest network isolation: no physical or wireless link to untrusted networks. It is a pillar of containment for high-value assets like frontier model weights. It is not absolute — data can still cross via removable media, insiders, or clever side channels — but it removes the entire remote-attack surface.
For product teams
The heaviest isolation you can apply, reserved for your crown-jewel assets.
For engineers
No network path to untrusted systems; still bypassable via media, insiders, and side channels, so pair with other controls.
Related
- Containment — A strong form of containment.
- Attack surface — Shrinks the attack surface to near zero remotely.
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