A catalyst is a substance that speeds up a chemical reaction without being consumed by it. It works by lowering the energy needed for a reaction to start, which can make a process faster, more efficient, or possible under milder conditions. In industrial chemistry, catalysts are central to turning raw materials into fuels, plastics, and other products because they control reaction pathways rather than becoming part of the final output.
In cyber security, catalyst is not a standard attack tool, but the concept matters whenever chemistry and digital systems meet. Industrial control systems, lab automation, and chemical production platforms may rely on catalysts as part of a controlled process, so attackers or defenders need to understand how a small change can sharply alter output, timing, or safety. The term also appears in security analysis as a useful metaphor for something that accelerates an incident, such as an exploit, a misconfiguration, or a fast-moving operational mistake.