YEO Messaging & C86 launch crisis chat for UK firms

YEO Messaging has partnered with C86 to provide identity-verified secure communications services for organisations facing tighter UK resilience and cyber reporting rules.

Under the agreement, C86 will advise clients on secure messaging requirements and resell YEO Messaging's continuous facial recognition technology. The aim is to give organisations a separate communications channel during cyber incidents, when core systems may no longer be trusted.

The service is intended for out-of-band communications, meaning channels kept separate from primary corporate systems. That approach is becoming more relevant as attackers increasingly target email, collaboration software and identity platforms early in an intrusion.

The partnership comes as the UK regulatory environment tightens for operators of critical and essential services. The Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, which has progressed through Parliament, sets out more prescriptive security duties and broader incident reporting requirements for organisations running critical digital services.

According to the companies, those obligations include reporting windows of 24 and 72 hours after a material cyber incident. That increases pressure on boards, security teams and compliance staff to communicate through trusted channels even when normal systems are disrupted.

Attack pattern

YEO Messaging said its system continuously verifies users through live facial recognition during a conversation, rather than relying only on a one-time login. It added that messages cannot be forwarded, screenshotted or viewed by unauthorised parties.

C86 plans to position the service for incident response coordination, executive decision-making, crisis communications during cyber events, regulatory reporting workflows, and communications between institutions and regulators. Banking, digital finance, legal services and cryptocurrency are among the sectors where resilience expectations are rising.

For organisations in those sectors, the challenge is not only preventing an attack but maintaining trusted communications once one begins. If identity systems or internal messaging tools are compromised, companies may struggle to verify who is involved in critical decisions, who is issuing instructions and what information can be trusted.

"Cyber incidents increasingly begin by compromising identity systems and internal communications platforms so that remediation efforts are hampered from the outset, and disruption is maximised. When that happens, organisations lose trust in the everyday tools, such as email, that they would ordinarily use to coordinate their response," Christo Conidaris, Chief Revenue Officer at YEO Messaging, said.

"By integrating YEO Messaging directly into C86's platforms, institutions will have a verified, out-of-band communications capability designed specifically for crisis situations. Every participant is continuously authenticated, which means decision-makers know exactly who they are speaking to when it matters most," said Conidaris.

Regulatory pressure

The partnership reflects a broader shift in cybersecurity spending towards operational resilience, as organisations are judged not only on prevention but also on their ability to keep functioning during an attack. In practice, that means showing they can communicate internally, make decisions quickly and meet reporting deadlines when core systems are unavailable or under suspicion.

C86, which focuses on cyber security, artificial intelligence and digital transformation consulting, works with enterprise and government clients. Adding YEO Messaging to its offering is intended to address a gap some organisations face in incident planning: the lack of an independently trusted communications layer during a crisis.

The arrangement also gives YEO Messaging broader access to customers through an advisory-led channel model. Instead of being sold only as a standalone communications product, its software will be offered as part of C86's wider resilience and cyber response planning work.

Cheryl Martin, Global Head of Cyber at C86, said: "Organisations are facing a new generation of cyber threats alongside increasing regulatory expectations. Our customers require security solutions that go far beyond protecting infrastructure today. They need resilience across their entire operating model, including how leaders and incident response teams communicate during a crisis. Under the CSRB, secure communications should now be treated as a critical resilience capability.:

"By combining C86 Advisory and AI solutions with YEO Messaging's identity-verified communications, we are enabling our customers to maintain secure, trusted communications even during the most challenging operational scenarios," Martin added.