Data spaces are governed environments for sharing data across organizations while preserving interoperability and control. They usually rely on shared schemas, policy rules, identity mechanisms, and connectors so that each participant can exchange data without giving up ownership or governance over it.
In cyber security, data spaces matter because they create a larger trust boundary. A flaw in one connector, access rule, or metadata record can expose data to unauthorized users, corrupt shared semantics, or break downstream automation. Defenders focus on strong authentication, least privilege, schema validation, signed or verifiable metadata, logging, and revocation procedures. Attacks against data spaces often look like unauthorized data reuse, poisoned records, or abuse of integration points rather than direct database theft.