The first example that springs to mind are high-security environments like spy agencies - cue the Mission Impossible music. As such, you can expect them in institutions and organizations that need the security and can work around the drawbacks. Not only is setting up an air-gapped network or computer a big undertaking, making sure it stays secure is a big investment of time and effort. Who Uses Air-Gapped Computers & Systems?Īs you can imagine, these draconian measures are reserved for extremely high-risk systems. The whole objective is to make sure no one but authorized personnel can get to the system at no risk of contamination - your malware-laden mobile is a definite risk. Usually, to further improve security, air-gapped systems and their users are also physically isolated, so it’s not like you can send a quick email using a nearby mobile phone. To transfer data from an air-gapped computer, you’ll need to use a USB drive or other physical devices. To transfer data, you’ll have to use some kind of removable media, like a USB drive or, if you want to go really old school, a floppy disk. If you need information from an air-gapped computer, you’ll have to read it from the screen and remember it, write it down or use a wired printer. For example, you can’t do research online, nor can you send a quick email to a colleague in another facility. While air gaps are a great way to keep a computer network secure, they hobble productivity. You couldn’t check your email, you couldn’t watch Netflix, you wouldn’t even be able to read this article. Imagine a computer that is not in any way connected to the internet. Humans need water to live and computers need the internet to reach their full potential. Of course, you can already see a downside. Downsides to an Air-Gapped Computer System After all, if you know your tap water has a bug in it, you wouldn’t drink it. By closing this connection, you prevent hazards from reaching you. The reasoning is most threats come from the internet, no matter if it’s a targeted cyberattack or just the office idiot downloading dodgy files onto their work computer. The other term for it is “air wall,” which is better than this conceptual air gap as you can imagine a wall of nothing separating your computer from everything else. The term comes from the idea that there is a gap between your computer and the internet, which is filled with air. The air-gapped computer or system has no contact with the world other than physical access by an authorized person or people. You can find air-gapped networks and other systems. In practice, this is a little watered down, of course. No LAN, no WiFi, no office extranet, no printers, nothing. By this, we usually mean the internet, of course, but to be a proper air gap, there can’t be any network connection whatsoever. In short, it’s a computer that isn’t connected to any network. While it seals your computer from threats, it also seals it from the World Wide Web, meaning it loses much of its usefulness.Ĭomputer storage that isn’t connected to the internet, usually a machine that only allows data transfer using USBs or similar formats.įirst, let’s take a closer look at what an air-gapped computer is. However, it is also impractical for most people most of the time. The short version is air-gapping is an extremely effective security measure, maybe even the most secure after never turning a device on.
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