M1060: Out-of-Band Communications Channel
Establish secure out-of-band communication channels to ensure the continuity of critical communications during security incidents, data integrity attacks, or in-network communication failures. Out-of-band communication refers to using an alternative, separate communication path that is not dependent on the potentially compromised primary network infrastructure. This method can include secure messaging apps, encrypted phone lines, satellite communications, or dedicated emergency communication systems. Leveraging these alternative channels reduces the risk of adversaries intercepting, disrupting, or tampering with sensitive communications and helps coordinate an effective incident response.[1][2]
Security context for executives and security teams
M1060: Out-of-Band Communications Channel describes Establish secure out-of-band communication channels to ensure the continuity of critical communications during security incidents, data integrity attacks, or in-network communication failures. Out-of-band communication refers to using an alternative, separate communication path that is not dependent on the potentially compromised primary network infrastructure. This method can include secure messaging apps, encrypted phone lines, satellite communications, or dedicated emergency communication systems. Leveraging the...
Executive priority
M1060: Out-of-Band Communications Channel is an official MITRE ATT&CK mitigation. Glexia treats it as defensive behavior context for prioritizing monitoring, control validation, and response planning without using the object by itself as an attribution claim.
Technical view
Security teams should validate M1060: Out-of-Band Communications Channel by reviewing the official ATT&CK relationships, mapped tactics (the mapped ATT&CK tactic context), supported platforms (the platforms named in the official object), and available local telemetry before making detection or mitigation decisions.
Likely telemetry
- Official ATT&CK relationships and object metadata
Detection direction
- Validate whether M1060: Out-of-Band Communications Channel appears in your detection coverage and tabletop scenarios.
- Use the object to align executive risk language with SOC, incident response, and detection engineering work.
- Do not treat ATT&CK relationship context as attribution without corroborating evidence.
Mitigation priorities
- Map the object to existing controls and identify missing telemetry or response ownership.
- Prioritize mitigations that reduce exposure on the listed platforms and tactics.
- Review adjacent ATT&CK relationships before changing policy, detections, or reporting language.
Additional notes and limits
Baseline Glexia take generated from the official MITRE ATT&CK STIX object, source hash, tactics, platforms, and detection fields. It is safe to replace with a richer model-generated take for the same source hash later.
This baseline take is source-grounded and schema-validated, but it does not include environment-specific telemetry, incident evidence, or threat-intelligence corroboration.
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Out-of-Band Communications Channel
Establish secure out-of-band communication channels to ensure the continuity of critical communications during security incidents, data integrity attacks, or in-network communication failures. Out-of-band communication refers to using an alternative, separate communication path that is not dependent on the potentially compromised primary network infrastructure. This method can include secure messaging apps, encrypted phone lines, satellite communications, or dedicated emergency communication systems. Leveraging these alternative channels reduces the risk of adversaries intercepting, disrupting, or tampering with sensitive communications and helps coordinate an effective incident response.[1][2]
How security teams should use this page
Treat this object as behavior context, not an attribution claim. Validate the related groups, software, data sources, and mitigations against official ATT&CK relationships and your own telemetry before making control-coverage decisions.
Techniques used
This mirrors the MITRE pattern of making group, software, campaign, and technique relationships scannable. Relationship notes come from mirrored ATT&CK relationship text when available.
| Domain | ID | Name | Relationship / procedure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enterprise | T1114.001 | Local Email CollectionSub-technique | Implement secure out-of-band alerts to notify security teams of unusual local email activities, such as mass forwarding or large attachments being sent, indicating potential data exfiltration attempts.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1213 | Data from Information Repositories | Create plans for leveraging a secure out-of-band communications channel, rather than existing in-network chat applications, in case of a security incident.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1114.002 | Remote Email CollectionSub-technique | Use secure out-of-band authentication methods to verify the authenticity of critical actions initiated via email, such as password resets, financial transactions, or access requests. For highly sensitive information, utilize out-of-band communication channels instead of relying solely on email. This reduces the risk of sensitive data being collected through compromised email accounts. Set up out-of-band alerts to notify security teams of unusual email activities, such as mass forwarding or large attachments being sent, which could indicate email collection attempts. Create plans for leveraging a secure out-of-band communications channel, rather than an existing in-network email server, in case of a security incident.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1213.005 | Messaging ApplicationsSub-technique | Implement secure out-of-band communication channels to use as an alternative to in-network chat applications during a security incident. This ensures that critical communications remain secure even if primary messaging channels are compromised by adversaries.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1489 | Service Stop | Develop and enforce security policies that include the use of out-of-band communication channels for critical communications during a security incident.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1114 | Email Collection | Use secure out-of-band authentication methods to verify the authenticity of critical actions initiated via email, such as password resets, financial transactions, or access requests. For highly sensitive information, utilize out-of-band communication channels instead of relying solely on email to prevent adversaries from collecting data through compromised email accounts.[1] |
| Enterprise | T1114.003 | Email Forwarding RuleSub-technique | Use secure out-of-band authentication methods to verify the authenticity of critical actions initiated via email, such as password resets, financial transactions, or access requests. For highly sensitive information, utilize out-of-band communication channels instead of relying solely on email. This reduces the risk of sensitive data being collected through compromised email accounts. Set up out-of-band alerts to notify security teams of unusual email activities, such as mass forwarding or large attachments being sent, which could indicate email collection attempts. Create plans for leveraging a secure out-of-band communications channel, rather than an existing in-network email server, in case of a security incident.[1] |
All related ATT&CK context
Object version and sync metadata
The fields below describe the current mirrored snapshot. When Glexia retains multiple ATT&CK source imports, you can open the table to compare the same object across releases (hashes and MITRE timestamps). For MITRE’s own release notes and roadmap, see ATT&CK resources — Updates.
Imported snapshots across ATT&CK releases(2)
| Release | Bundle imported | Object version | Modified | Status | Raw hash |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19.2 | 1.0 | Current bundle | cd88f1a9fcd9… | ||
| 19.1 | 1.0 | Older bundle | cd88f1a9fcd9… |
Mirrored ATT&CK source object
The raw object is retained through the mirrored ATT&CK source bundle and object hash. The raw endpoint returns the exact object from the mirrored bundle when available.
External references and citations
MITRE external references are preserved separately from Glexia analysis so citations remain traceable to their original source records.
- [1]TrustedSec OOB Communications
Tyler Hudak. (2022, December 29). To OOB, or Not to OOB?: Why Out-of-Band Communications are Essential for Incident Response. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
Open source URL - [2]NIST Special Publication 800-53 Revision 5
National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2020, September). Security and Privacy Controlsfor Information Systems and Organizations. Retrieved August 30, 2024.
Open source URL - [3]mitre-attackM1060Open source URL
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