Overview
An Airgap is a traditional method of high security that introduces a literal “gap of air” between devices. Transmitting information between the devices requires a non-interactive methodlogy such as writing and reading QRs, NFCs, or MicroSDs.
Why is Airgap Important?
An airgap is a security measure. It makes it harder for attacks to occur on the device on the far side of the airgap. There are a few primary reasons for this:
- Constrained Transmission. All methods of transmitting data across the airgap are constrained. Usually, this means there’s a size contraint, but there may also be constraints on what can be transmitted.
- Non-Interactivity. There’s no ability for a malicious program on one side of the airgap to attack the device on the other side in an interactive way and get an immediate response. Though attacks might be possible they would be notably slowed by the fact that data needs to be loaded across the airgap each time. Something like a buffer overflow attack couldn’t see the immediate response, limiting the ability to retrieve illicit data (or gain illicit access). More generally, if any attack requires several sequential queries or several round-trips to reach conclusion, it’s effectively impossible to use across an airgap.
- User Agency. Finally, it’s usually a human being doing the loading of data across the airgap, and so they have the ability to stop if something looks weird. Moreso, the best practices for airgaps will usually require a user to verify what’s being done at each step.
How Does Airgap Work?
The most common methodology for bridging an airgap is for a device to create and display a data-filled QR code and then for another device to read that QR with its camera. Blockchain Commons’ animated QRs were designed to allow for larger sets of data to be transmitted in this way.
Similarly one device could write to an NFC or a MicroSD card, and then another could read it.