November 18, 2025 Posted by Dan Banning in Business Continuity, Crisis Communications, Mass Notification, Internal Communications, Other tagged employee communications, ransomware, cyber attack Social Share

When a cyber attack hits, it rarely arrives as a clean, contained “IT problem.” It hits people.

Picture a regional hospital early on a Tuesday. Registration desks are busy, lab systems are processing orders, and clinicians rely on electronic health records for every decision. Suddenly, screens freeze. Access to the EHR, billing, imaging, and even email disappears. IT announces a suspected ransomware attack and begins shutting systems down to contain it.

Clinicians are told to switch to paper. Staff are pulled into emergency huddles. Phone queues jam as patients call asking if appointments are canceled. Leaders need to communicate what is happening, who is affected, and how to proceed. Yet the usual tools for incident communication during a cyber attack are either offline or untrusted.

This is where many organizations discover they do not have reliable emergency communications during a cyber attack.

You cannot fix that in the middle of an incident. You can only use what you planned and implemented in advance.

What Fails During a Cyber Incident

Cyber incidents are uniquely disruptive because they target the systems you rely on for day to day coordination. When email and chat are down, even simple instructions become difficult to share.

Email and Intranet Collapse Quickly

In many ransomware scenarios, IT has to treat internal systems as compromised until proven otherwise. That often means:

• Shutting down email and intranet access
• Blocking VPN connectivity
• Locking down file shares and internal portals

The result is simple. You lose your primary communication channel at the exact moment you need it most.

Collaboration Tools Disappear Without Warning

Modern teams depend on tools like Microsoft Teams, Slack, and cloud collaboration suites. During a cyber attack, those tools can go offline for several reasons.

• Identity and access platforms are under attack
• Single sign on is disabled
• Network segmentation cuts off traffic to cloud tools

The impact is immediate. There is no central place for leaders to share updates, no chat channel for operations, and no shared document for instructions. Communicating with staff during system downtime becomes a manual, error prone effort.

Phone Systems Are Not Guaranteed

Many organizations assume they can fall back to phones. In practice, that is not always true.

Voice over IP systems often run on the same network that is under attack. If your IP PBX or contact center platform is affected, internal calling and external hotlines may both fail. Even if phones technically work, staff may not know which numbers are safe to use or which lines are being monitored.

Traditional phone trees are also unreliable during cyber incidents. They depend on long chains of manual calling, which slows down communication and increases the chance of missed contacts. One person who cannot answer, is off shift, or is overwhelmed can break the chain entirely. Phone trees are also prone to inconsistent messaging since every person in the chain repeats instructions in their own words.

For hospitals, manufacturers, critical infrastructure, and public sector agencies, this is a dangerous gap. If your core voice infrastructure is affected, or if you rely on manual phone trees, your crisis communication for IT outages can stall completely.

Why These Failures Create Serious Risk

When communication channels fail, risk compounds quickly:

• Staff do not know whether it is safe to log in
• Front line teams do not know which systems they can use
• Patients, tenants, or citizens receive mixed messages
• Decisions happen in silos rather than from a coordinated playbook

In highly regulated or high impact environments, this goes beyond inconvenience. It can affect safety, compliance, and public trust. A robust network outage emergency communication capability is not optional. It is part of basic resilience.

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Watch this Webinar or read this Blog Post on What to Do in a Ransomware Attack

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Why You Need Out of Band Emergency Communication During a Cyber Incident

An emergency notification for cyber attacks must assume your primary network may be unavailable or untrusted. That is why security and business continuity leaders talk about “out of band communication for cyber incidents.”

Independence From the Primary Network

An independent communication channel lives outside your internal infrastructure. It is typically a cloud based emergency notification platform that:

• Runs on hardened, redundant infrastructure
• Uses separate authentication and routing from your internal systems
• Remains reachable over standard internet or mobile networks even when your own network is isolated

This independent communication channel becomes the trusted path for instructions when internal tools are offline or suspect.

Reaching People Fast When Systems Are Offline

A modern platform should support multi channel emergency alerts, including:

• SMS
• Voice calls
• Mobile app push
• Email

In a cyber incident, text and voice can often ride on mobile carrier networks even if your corporate network is down. This makes it possible to reach employees, clinicians, plant operators, call center staff, and field teams within minutes, regardless of their location.

Reducing Misinformation and Operational Disruption

Without a central, trusted channel, people fill the gaps themselves. Rumors spread. Incorrect “workarounds” propagate. That creates both operational and legal exposure.

Out of band alerting allows leaders to:

• Send clear, authoritative updates
• Repeat key instructions consistently
• Control the timing and wording of messages

The result is fewer conflicting messages and a smoother incident response.

How Multi Channel Emergency Alerts Support Cyber Incident Response

A strong cyber incident response communication plan does not depend on a single channel. It leverages the strengths of each.

SMS and Voice When Data Networks Are Unstable

During a major cyber event, corporate Wi Fi or VPN access may be unavailable. Many employees still have personal or corporate mobile devices, however.

SMS and voice alerts can:

• Reach people when they are off the network
• Deliver short, high priority instructions
• Provide callback numbers or links to more detailed information

This is especially important in healthcare, manufacturing, and logistics, where many staff do not sit at desks.

Mobile App Push as a Direct Channel

Where a mobile app is in use, push notifications can act as a clean route to recipients. Push alerts:

• Are highly visible
• Can be configured with templates for cyber scenarios
• Provide a log of communication history for each recipient

This is valuable in critical infrastructure cyber incident communication, where you need to know who saw what and when.

Email as One Channel Among Many

If IT determines that email is safe to use, it still has a role. Longer form guidance, links to updated policies, and attachments such as quick reference guides are easier to deliver via email.

The key is to treat email as one channel in a multi channel emergency notification system, not the only one.

Role Based Access, Segmentation, and Templates

Technology alone does not solve cyber incident response communication. Structure does.

Targeting the Right Teams in Seconds

During a cyber attack, you rarely want to message everyone with the same level of detail. You may need to:

• Notify executives and the incident response team first
• Send specific directions to IT, security, and facilities
• Provide practical instructions to clinical staff, manufacturing lines, or branch locations
  

A modern platform should support:

• Role based access controls so only authorized leaders send messages
• Predefined groups for IT, HR, operations, executives, and front line teams
• Location based segmentation for multi site organizations

This keeps your ransomware communication plan focused and reduces noise.

Predefined Templates for Cyber Scenarios

When stress is high, writing from scratch slows everything down. Pre-approved templates for cyber scenarios help you move faster and avoid legal missteps. Typical categories include:

• “Incident detected, investigation in progress”
• “Systems remain unavailable, here is how to proceed”
• “Partial service restored”
• “All clear and post incident review”

Templates can be adapted per channel, for example: short SMS, fuller email, or desktop alert for on site staff. They also support a consistent business continuity communication plan across departments and shifts.

How Out-of-Band Communication Strengthens Business Continuity

Emergency communication during a cyber attack should not sit apart from your broader planning. It should be woven into business continuity and disaster recovery.

A Reliable Layer in the Business Continuity Communication Plan

NIST’s guidance on contingency planning, such as NIST SP 800 34 Rev. 1, emphasizes the need for robust communication processes as part of continuity and recovery. An out of band platform aligns with that by:

• Reducing single points of failure
• Providing a consistent method for reaching stakeholders
• Supporting structured escalation paths

For leaders responsible for business continuity communication, this is a practical way to operationalize those frameworks.

Preventing Disruptions From Becoming Crises

When staff do not know what is happening, they pause work or invent their own solutions. Clear, repeatable communication helps you:

• Maintain safe operations under manual procedures
• Coordinate restoration efforts across IT, security, and facilities
• Protect patients, tenants, or citizens from downstream impact

In other words, cyber incidents remain incidents instead of cascading crises.

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Read More on Best Practices for Creating a Cyber Security Plan.

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Why an Independent, Cloud Based Platform Like RedFlag Matters 

An out-of-band alerting strategy is difficult to execute with spreadsheets and ad hoc tools. The platform you choose matters.

Built to Run Even When Your Network Cannot

An effective cloud based emergency notification platform should provide:

• High availability infrastructure with geographic redundancy
• Strong security controls and independently assessed standards, such as SOC 2
• Performance that scales under load when you need to reach everyone at once

Because it operates outside your primary network, it can continue to function even when you have isolated or shut down internal systems during a cyber investigation.

Reducing Risk for HR, EHS, Security, and IT

For HR, safety, security, and IT leaders, a central platform:

• Creates a trusted, independent communication channel
• Provides a shared dashboard and single source of truth for critical alerts
• Speeds up coordination between technical responders and business leaders

It also helps you reach employees during network outages or notify staff when systems are offline without resorting to manual call trees.

Where RedFlag Fits In

Once you accept that you need emergency communication during cyber attack scenarios, the next question is how to implement it in a practical way.

RedFlag is the best option for a cloud based emergency mass notification system designed for organizations that need simple, reliable communication during disruption. It supports:

• Multi channel emergency alerts across SMS, voice, email, mobile app push, Microsoft Teams, and desktop alerts
• Out-of-band communication for cyber incidents, so you can reach your workforce even when internal tools are down
• Flexible segmentation by role, department, and location, so you can notify IT, executives, clinical staff, or specific facilities with tailored messages
• Role based access controls and template folders for cyber scenarios, IT outages, and other critical events
• Two way communication and acknowledgments, so you can confirm who received instructions and who may need follow up

Because it is built to be easy for non technical users, HR leaders, EHS teams, and operations managers can use it confidently during high stress situations, without waiting for IT to drive every message.

Useful Links:

• NIST SP 800-61 Rev. 3 Incident Response Recommendations and Considerations for Cybersecurity Risk Management
• NIST Cybersecurity Framework (Communicate, Respond, Recover)

Your Next Steps to Consider

Cyber attacks are not hypothetical occurrences and for most organizations, they are a matter of “when” not “if.” When they happen, your usual tools for incident communication during cyber attack events may not be available or trustworthy.

An independent, cloud based emergency notification platform such as RedFlag gives you a resilient communication layer that stays available when email, chat, and even phones are at risk. It supports your ransomware communication plan, your business continuity communication plan, and your duty to keep people informed and safe during IT outages.

Your next step is simple. Review your current incident communication plan and ask three questions:

1. How will we notify employees, tenants, or customers during a cyber attack if our network is down or untrusted?
2. Which channels can we use to reach our people quickly, across roles and locations?
3. Do we have a dedicated emergency mass notification system that works independently of our primary infrastructure?

If the answers are unclear or rely on hope, it is time to add a resilient communication layer. A platform like RedFlag can help you build that layer now, so you are ready when the next cyber incident or network failure occurs.

Book a demo today to learn how RedFlag can bring you fast, dependable communication during cyber attacks and network outages.

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