Cybersecurity Glossary
Air Gap
Keeping a system or a backup physically disconnected from any network.
What Air Gap means
An air gapped copy cannot be reached remotely at all. In practice most organisations use a logical equivalent instead: immutable cloud storage under separate credentials, or removable media rotated offsite. The principle is the same, that an attacker with full network access still cannot touch it.
Why Air Gap matters for small businesses and nonprofits
Attackers routinely destroy backups before triggering encryption, because that is what forces payment. A copy they cannot reach is what preserves your choice.
What to do about Air Gap
- Keep one backup copy that is not reachable with your normal administrator credentials
- Rotate media offsite if you use physical copies, and log the rotation
- Test a restore from that copy specifically, not only from the convenient one
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