Virtual Air Gap Solution
You build a virtual air gap solution by isolating backup storage in a separate account. You then block all network paths except one-way, timed data transfers. Teams often set up this boundary using cloud accounts and strict firewall rules. Still, broad admin roles still let users change rules or delete data during maintenance. How a virtual air gap solution works in practice A physical air gap pulls the network cable from a backup server. In the cloud, you cannot unplug a physical wire. Inste
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You build a virtual air gap solution by isolating backup storage in a separate account. You then block all network paths except one-way, timed data transfers. Teams often set up this boundary using cloud accounts and strict firewall rules. Still, broad admin roles still let users change rules or delete data during maintenance.
How a virtual air gap solution works in practice
A physical air gap pulls the network cable from a backup server. In the cloud, you cannot unplug a physical wire. Instead, you use strict network rules and separate accounts to mimic that gap. Your primary system lives in one cloud account, and the isolated vault lives in another.
Between these two accounts, network links stay closed by default. When a backup schedule starts, the vault opens a brief network path. The vault pulls data from the main account rather than letting the main account push data. Once the copy finishes, the vault closes the network path right away.
Next, the vault applies a audit storage, read-many lock to the saved files. This lock stops anyone from changing or erasing the backup for a set number of days. Even if an attacker takes over the main account, the vault stays out of reach.
What native network isolation solves and where it falls short
Native account separation protects backup copies from automated ransomware sweeps. It blocks lateral movement across flat networks. It also ensures that a compromised production role cannot wipe out recovery files. For compliance audits, this setup proves that your backup zone sits apart from daily traffic.
Yet this native setup only controls who can open a session to the isolated zone. Engineers still need to log in to test restores, check database tables, or fix broken pipelines. Once an engineer logs in with an approved role, the network firewall steps aside. Native account rules cannot see individual queries or commands running inside that open session.
Virtual CISO Services + Compliance Gap Analysis: architecture patterns and best practices
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During a restore check, an engineer might run a broad query on production backup tables. That query pulls raw emails, phone numbers, card numbers, and national IDs onto a local laptop. Worse, a careless command during maintenance can still drop unprotected staging tables or leak secrets.
Closing the session gap during maintenance and restore checks
To keep an isolated zone safe during human tasks, teams must check actions in flight. Deciding who can log in is only the first step. You also need control over each command or SQL statement after the session starts.
When engineers inspect a vault database, data masking should rewrite matched fields in results. This step swaps out real emails, phone numbers, and card numbers before data leaves the enclave. At the same time, command filtering can block destructive statements while allowing safe read queries. Every single query and command should go into a clear audit log for review.
Check database and API queries on the wire
Identity tools, roles, and network rules decide who opens a session. Setup alone cannot check what each query does or mask sensitive values in a response once a session starts. When workflows touch Postgres, MySQL, SQL Server, MongoDB, ClickHouse, Kubernetes APIs, SSH, or internal HTTP APIs, hoop.dev runs beside those services as an open-source proxy, a sidecar for your Postgres or API. It inspects requests coming in and results going back on the wire.
Your login details and client tools stay as they are while hoop.dev guardrails refuse bad deletes or drops before they run. On responses, hoop.dev data masking rewrites matched sensitive values in memory. Furthermore, hoop.dev holds SOC 2 Type II, is MIT licensed, and writes every query and decision to an audit trail that generates evidence for HIPAA, GDPR, and PCI DSS. See the source on GitHub.
Frequently asked questions
How does a virtual air gap differ from a physical air gap?
A physical air gap uses disconnected hardware with no network links at all. A virtual air gap uses separate cloud accounts, strict firewalls, and locked storage buckets.
Why do engineers still need to log in to an isolated vault?
Teams must log in to test disaster recovery, check data integrity, and fix failing backup jobs. Without regular testing, you cannot know if your backups will actually work during an outage.
Does immutable storage stop sensitive data leaks during restore tests?
No, audit storage storage only stops users from changing or deleting saved files. It does not stop an authorized user from reading sensitive tables and copying raw data out.