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Security Operations · Intermediate

Out-of-Band Communication

Communication through channels separate from potentially compromised production systems during an incident.

Definition

If attackers control email or chat, discussing the response there alerts them. IR teams use separate phones, secure messaging apps or dedicated tenants. Out-of-band verification also defeats social engineering, such as calling a known number to confirm a payment change.

Example

The IR team switches to a separate Signal group because the corporate email server is compromised.

Exam tip

When email is compromised, the correct answer is an out-of-band channel.

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