Future of Critical Infrastructure

The Future of Critical Infrastructure: How Secure Collaboration is Shaping the Next Generation of Resilient Operations

February 28, 2025

Collaboration

Critical infrastructure organizations, including energy, transportation, healthcare, and government services, are under increasing pressure to modernize. Aging systems, evolving cyber threats, and stringent regulatory requirements demand a new approach to operational resilience. Yet, many organizations still rely on disconnected systems and outdated communication tools to manage essential workflows, creating inefficiencies and security vulnerabilities that put mission-critical operations at risk.[1]
In a world of escalating cyberattacks, supply chain disruptions, and geopolitical tensions, secure and persistent collaboration is not optional; it’s essential![2]

The Role of Secure Collaboration in Modern Operations

Real-time coordination across distributed teams is the backbone of operational resilience. Whether responding to a power grid failure, coordinating emergency response efforts, or ensuring uninterrupted logistics in a crisis, secure, structured collaboration enables teams to act swiftly and decisively.[3]

However, many critical infrastructure organizations still operate in communication silos, relying on legacy systems, email, or commercial chat apps that fail under stress. These fragmented approaches create delays, limit visibility, and increase security risks, especially when dealing with sensitive or classified information.[4]

Secure collaboration platforms solve this problem by offering real-time, structured discussions, ensuring that the right information reaches the right people at the right time without exposing organizations to unnecessary risk.[5]

1. AI, Automation, and Digital Transformation

The rapid adoption of AI-driven automation and cloud-based workflows is revolutionizing how organizations operate. These advancements streamline decision-making, enhance security monitoring, and improve operational efficiency. However, they also require a communication infrastructure that can keep pace with real-time developments.[6]

While these technologies offer tremendous benefits in speed and productivity, they also introduce new layers of complexity and potential vulnerabilities. AI systems require careful oversight, as automated decisions can propagate errors at scale if not properly monitored. Cloud migrations expose new attack surfaces that traditional security approaches may not adequately cover. Additionally, the integration of various digital systems creates interdependencies that can cascade failures across operations if not properly managed.

Organizations must balance the promise of digital transformation with thoughtful implementation strategies that include robust collaboration tools. Teams need visibility into automated processes, the ability to quickly intervene when systems behave unexpectedly, and secure channels to coordinate responses when digital infrastructure is compromised.

2. Persistent, Secure Communication Channels

The increasing reliance on digital communication for essential workflows has fundamentally changed operational requirements. With distributed teams, rapid response expectations, and the constant threat of cyber incidents, organizations can no longer rely on reactive communication strategies. Instead, they must adopt always-on, secure collaboration to maintain continuity.

This shift is driven by several factors: remote and hybrid work models that disperse critical personnel, customer and stakeholder expectations for near-immediate response times, and the need to coordinate complex incident responses across organizational boundaries. When teams depend on digital communication for core operations, those channels become as critical as the infrastructure they help maintain.

With increasing cyber threats targeting core operational networks, having an out-of-band communication strategy that remains functional when the main IT environment is compromised is now a fundamental requirement.[7]

Case for Action: Future-Proofing Critical Infrastructure

For critical infrastructure organizations, the ability to maintain operational resilience hinges on their communication strategy. Here’s why secure collaboration is indispensable:

  • Eliminating Single Points of Failure: Over-reliance on email, centralized IT systems, or consumer-grade messaging tools creates significant risks. Secure, decentralized platforms provide redundancy, ensuring uninterrupted operations in crisis scenarios.[8]
  • Out-of-Band Communication for Crisis Response: When primary communication channels are compromised due to cyberattacks, system outages, or natural disasters, organizations must have an alternate communication layer that remains secure and accessible.[9]
  • Regulatory & Compliance Readiness: Governments and industry regulators are tightening security mandates, requiring organizations to demonstrate their ability to maintain resilient and secure communications. Having an auditable, encrypted collaboration platform ensures compliance with frameworks such as FedRAMP, HIPAA, and DoD IL4.[10]

The Mattermost Advantage: Secure Collaboration for Critical Infrastructure Operations

Many organizations struggle with legacy, unreliable communication tools that lack persistence during crises. Mattermost provides a secure, real-time collaboration platform designed for high-stakes environments, ensuring teams remain aligned no matter the circumstances.[11] Mattermost stands out by providing:

Take Action for a Resilient Future

Critical infrastructure organizations simply can’t afford communication failures. A secure, structured collaboration platform is essential to ensuring continuity, security, and efficiency in the face of growing challenges.[15]

Discover how leading organizations maintain operational resilience with secure, out-of-band communication solutions. Learn more about Mattermost today.


[1] National Institute of Standards and Technology. Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity. NIST; 2023.
[2] World Economic Forum. Global Risks Report 2024. Accessed February 25, 2025.
[3] U.S. Department of Homeland Security. National Infrastructure Protection Plan. DHS; 2022.
[4] ENISA. Secure Group Communications for Incident Response and Coordination. Published 2017.
[5] Mattermost. Collaboration Tools’ Vital Role in Army Project Convergence. Published January 2025.
[6] Reuters. Comment: The AI race is on the wrong track. Here’s how to fix it. Published February 24, 2025.
[7] Mattermost. Out-of-Band Communication: Maintaining Business Continuity. Mattermost; 2025.
[8] CISO Magazine. How to Remove Single Points of Failure from Your Digital Infrastructure. Published 2021
[9] Center for Strategic and International Studies. Significant Cyber Incidents. Published 2025.
[10] U.S. Government Accountability Office. Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government. GAO; 2014.
[11] Mattermost. Collaboration Tools’ Vital Role in Army Project Convergence. Mattermost; 2025
[12] European Union Agency for Cybersecurity. Secure Communication Best Practices. ENISA; 2019.
[13] Ponemon Institute. The cost of communication failures in critical operations. Published 2011.
[14] Forbes. The role of DevOps in resilient enterprise collaboration. Published 2024.
[15] Mattermost. Building Cyber Resilience Through Collaboration. Mattermost; 2025.
 

Read more about:

AI critical infrastructure digital transformation security

A.J. Nash is an intelligence strategist and public speaker focused on building intelligence-driven security programs. Applying his 19+ years of experience in the U.S. Intelligence Community, A.J. is often asked to contribute to traditional and social media discussions on intelligence, security and leadership as well as being invited as a keynote speaker at conferences worldwide. AJ is the host of the podcast Unspoken Security.

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