Secure Out-of-Band Communications for Incident Response Teams

The Problem

Your IR Communications Are Being Surveilled

Attackers often lurk undetected for 6+ months before discovery. During this time, they target the email, chats, SharePoint files, and even SIEM alerts of the people responsible for remediation and eviction.

Hackers know that if they can disrupt or intercept those communications, they can:

Better prepare for your response

Amplify confusion and demoralize responders

Delay remediation efforts

Increase recovery costs

"[The adversary] has been observed then joining the organization's crisis communication calls and internal discussion boards (Slack, Teams, conference calls, and others) to understand the incident response workflow and their corresponding response."

— Microsoft Threat Intelligence on Lapsus$ (DEV-0537), March 2022

Proof

It Happened to Microsoft

In a striking example of the threat they had themselves documented, Microsoft confirmed in its SEC Form 8-K disclosure that Russia-based threat actor APT29 (also known as Cozy Bear or Midnight Blizzard) successfully compromised employee email accounts. Instead of a typical mass exfiltration, the hackers focused on a small percentage of accounts, including those belonging to senior leadership, cybersecurity staff, and legal teams.

If it can happen to Microsoft, it can happen to any organization. The question isn't whether you need secure out-of-band communications—it's whether you have them in place before your next incident.

The Solution

The Cyber Trifecta: The Three Requirements for Secure Out-of-Band Communications

Modern incident response communications require three non-negotiable capabilities. ArmorText is the only platform purpose-built to deliver all three:

It Must Be Out-of-Band

Your OOB solution must NOT:

Rely on on-premise components or self-hosted infrastructure
Be dependent on network systems like Active Directory, SharePoint, IdP, or SSO
Be a duplicate of your current tools (Teams, Slack, Zoom)

It Must Be More Secure

End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is non-negotiable. ArmorText's patented E2EE:

Ensures only authorized users with the cryptographic keys can access communications
Protects against insider threats—admins cannot decrypt or tamper with communications
Minimizes vendor/supply chain risk—even if ArmorText is compromised, your data remains secure

Governance Must Be Out-of-Band

Unlike consumer privacy apps (Signal, WhatsApp), ArmorText delivers enterprise-grade governance:

E2EE with security and compliance logging
Immutable audit trails with e-discovery exports
Retention without network dependence—records preserved outside your compromised IT network

ArmorText Secure Communications Capabilities

Secure Out-of-Band Collaboration

Purpose-built secure messaging, voice, video, and file sharing for incident response teams. Operates completely independent of corporate network infrastructure with patented E2EE that even ArmorText administrators cannot access.

Secure Gateway for E2EE Integrations

Out-of-band delivery of critical alerts from SIEM, SOAR, TIP, and MSSP platforms—with particular emphasis on honeypot telemetry that could tip off attackers if delivered through compromised channels.

Reserve Capacity for Business Continuity

Pre-provisioned capacity to scale secure communications across the broader employee base during major incidents. Eliminates procurement delays and reduces costs compared to purchasing full-time licenses—critical advantages when resources are strained during a crisis.

Infrastructure Sovereignty

Allows for fully autonomous, globally accessible multi-tenant deployments to comply with country-specific data residency requirements. Patented E2EE Enforced Scopes of Review allow granular, multinational data residency compliance independent of infrastructure location.

Why Leading Organizations Choose ArmorText

Recognized Industry Leadership

Named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Secure Communications Solutions, Q3 2024. Forrester notes: "Organizations requiring out-of-band communications for incident response, security operations, or threat intel sharing should consider ArmorText.

Patented Security Architecture

100% E2EE guarantee across chat, voice, video, and file sharing. Enables audit trails through the E2EE Enforced Scopes of Review without compromising encryption. Enforces identity and access controls through encryption, not permissions.

Critical Infrastructure Expertise

Extensive experience delivering secure communications for manufacturing, central banks, electric utilities, downstream natural gas, financial services, healthcare, and government agencies. Trusted by over a dozen ISACs and ISAOs, including the E-ISAC and DNG-ISAC, for secure threat intelligence sharing across the energy sector.

Rapid Deployment, Immediate Value

Deployment in under one hour with no on-premise components. Runs seamlessly alongside existing tools—no rip-and-replace required. ArmorText provides full lifecycle support from deployment through production operations.

Get Your IR Communications Readiness Assessment

Schedule a 30-minute strategy session with an ArmorText security specialist.

We will provide:

Review of your current IR communications plan and gaps
Identification of compliance and governance exposures
Roadmap of next steps aligned to your security priorities

Assessment against the Cyber Trifecta requirements
Guidance on secure out-of-band communications deployment strategy

We respect your privacy. Your information will only be used to schedule your assessment and discuss secure communications solutions.

Why ArmorText

ArmorText has been recognized as a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Secure Communications Solutions, Q3 2024 report, saying:

ArmorText outclasses for SecOps, incident response, and threat-intel-sharing use cases.”

Download The Report

Disclaimer: Forrester does not endorse any company, product, brand, or service included in its research publications and does not advise any person to select the products or services of any company or brand based on the ratings included in such publications. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. For more information, read about Forrester’s objectivity here.