A load path is the route force travels through a structure from one point to another. In a well-designed system, that route is intentional and can be traced. In a weak or modified structure, the load may move through parts that were never meant to carry it, revealing hidden stress, poor fastening, or unexpected failure points.
In cybersecurity, the same idea helps explain how pressure moves through a system: authentication, permissions, dependencies, and trust relationships can form a kind of load path. Attackers often look for the weakest link in that chain, such as a misconfigured integration, an overprivileged account, or a third-party component that absorbs more trust than it should. Defenders use the concept in threat modeling and hardening by tracing what depends on what, then testing those paths under abuse, load, and failure. If the route is not understood, the system may look solid while still failing at the hidden connection.