Glossary

Terms of art used on this site, in plain language.

Air gap: A network kept physically separate from the internet, so nothing can reach it electronically. Common in factories, power stations and defence systems. What made it work was not the separation itself but its consequence: an attacker scanning for a way in found nothing listening. That property is the thing worth keeping, and it does not strictly require the wall.
Zero trust: An approach where no user, device or system is trusted simply for being inside the network. Every request is checked, every time.
Zero Trust Network Access: A way of giving people access to one specific application rather than to the whole network, checking who they are each time. Often shortened to ZTNA. Most implementations still put something on the internet for the user to connect to: a gateway, which can be found and attacked like anything else.
Air-gap zero trust network access: Remote access arranged so that nothing waits for an incoming connection. The protected machine reaches outward to a broker; the authorised user reaches the same broker; the two are joined. Because no port is open and no address is published, a scan of the network finds nothing at all: the property an air gap used to provide, without giving up the access. This is the approach Mohd Atasha works on at Prezytion.
Operational technology: The computers that run physical equipment such as pumps, turbines and production lines, as opposed to the ones that run email and spreadsheets. Often shortened to OT.
FinOps: The practice of managing what an organisation spends on cloud computing: knowing what is running, who asked for it, and whether it is still needed.
Agentic system: Software using artificial intelligence that can act on its own: logging in, making choices and completing tasks without a person approving each step.
Doctrine: Written-down practice that lets an organisation act sensibly when the formal rules have not caught up with the situation.