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Air-Gapped Cloud vs. Sovereign Cloud: Isolation Doesn’t Equal Security

The German armed forces use them. Government agencies rely on them. And major providers promote them as the security solution of the future: air-gapped clouds. It all sounds like digital isolation, data protection, and independence. But a closer look reveals: an air gap alone doesn’t protect—neither against covert data access nor against legal risks.

What is an Air-Gapped Cloud?

An Air-Gapped Cloud refers to a system that is physically or logically separated from the public internet. The goal is to minimize attack surfaces and store particularly sensitive data in an isolated network. Technically, this sounds like maximum security—but in practice, one risk remains: whoever controls the software ultimately controls the data.

Why Air-Gap Alone Doesn’t Guarantee Security

Example: The allegedly secure Google Cloud for the German Armed Forces runs in an isolated data center operated by BWI. However, the software originates entirely from the U.S.—including updates, patches, and new features. This means that U.S. providers maintain indirect access to core systems.

Moreover, the U.S. CLOUD Act obliges American companies to hand over data—regardless of where it is physically stored. Hidden remote access via out-of-band channels or unverified code can become an open flank.

Legal Risks with U.S. Cloud Providers

Even if data is stored exclusively in Germany, providers like Google, Microsoft, or Amazon are still subject to U.S. jurisdiction. Particularly critical: secret FISA orders or access under the CLOUD Act can occur—without affected parties being informed.

While U.S. providers have no direct access to truly offline systems, even occasional connections for license checks or patches create an attack vector. A German parliamentary report warned that even proprietary software operated in Germany is regularly updated with U.S.-originating code—already a significant risk.

The threat of a “kill switch” is real: in light of the CLOUD Act, there's always a risk that cloud services could be centrally shut down under political pressure from abroad. In other words: if a system isn’t fully autonomous, a U.S. provider could, in extreme cases, disable or sabotage the service.

Air-Gapped Cloud vs. Sovereign Cloud

The key difference lies in control: a sovereign cloud is not only geographically separate but also legally, technically, and operationally independent. It is based on openly auditable open-source software, runs on infrastructure located in Germany, and is subject exclusively to European data protection law.

How Does a Zero-Knowledge Cloud Work?

  • All data is encrypted on the client side and only decrypted on the user’s device.
  • No external access to passwords or content is possible.
  • Users retain full data ownership—with no backdoors or third-party access.

An Air-Gap can be useful—but only in combination with true technological and legal sovereignty. Otherwise, it remains pure sovereignty-washing in the cloud.

Open Source Cloud Made in Germany

luckycloud consistently follows the principle of digital sovereignty. As a provider with data centers located exclusively in Germany and entirely free of U.S. third-party vendors, luckycloud offers:

This makes luckycloud a real alternative to Google Cloud—especially for organizations that value transparency, independence, and data security.

You want real security—not just a label?
Try the sovereign cloud made in Germany – free for 14 days!

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