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PentenAmio Announces Acquisition of Armour Communications

As of today, we are excited to announce that we have  been acquired by PentenAmio.

Armour Communications and PentenAmio have been working together for eight years, and this acquisition fully integrates our teams – reinforcing our joint commitment to maintain and enhance our Secure Mobility capability.

Integrating the Armour Communications development team into PentenAmio will enable the growth of additional mobile and enterprise secure applications to meet the current and future requirements of our customers. It will also bring a continued prioritisation and investment in the product roadmap to support their outcomes.

As part of the deal, the Armour Communications cofounders will take on roles within PentenAmio.

This acquisition is the first since the formation of PentenAmio in May 2025 and progresses the development of their new single integrated organisation, capable of delivering at global scale. Importantly, it strengthens resilience and the speed at which the UK and its European and NATO allies can respond to emerging threats.

“We’ve been working with the PentenAmio team for over eight years, so we’ve seen firsthand the skill they bring to innovation and disruption in our industry,” said David Holman, Armour Communications’ Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. I know I speak for us all when I say we’re looking forward to working even more closely together as our companies enter this exciting new chapter.”

This acquisition integrates our specialists into PentenAmio’s 300-strong team, adding a wealth of engineering talent, especially in key skills areas such as secure app development.

We will be showcasing the breadth of our Secure Communications portfolio at CyberUK 2026 in Glasgow this week (22 – 23 April April), so come and see us at stand D19 to learn more.

[Pictured above: Adrian Cunningham, Executive Co-Chair, PentenAmio, Andy Lilly, Co-Founder and CTO, Armour Communications, Sarah Bailey CEO, PentenAmio, David Holman, Co-Founder and CEO, Armour Communications and Matt Thomas, UK CEO, PentenAmio.]

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Deepfake frauds are on the increase

What can organisations do to prevent employees being duped into parting with sensitive information, or cash?  Impersonation-based attacks, also known as deepfakes, are becoming ever more sophisticated, and industry commentators expect them to increase dramatically in the coming year. A recent BBC article cites an increase of 3000% in deepfakes during the past two years.

Who are the targets?  Everyone

The story of the unfortunate finance worker in a multinational company that was tricked into paying out $25 million after a video call with a deepfake chief financial officer is well documented. Not only was the CFO on the call a deepfake, so were all the other participants, all of whom were known to the finance worker. While initially the worker was suspicious, they put aside their doubts after the video call because it was so realistic, and human brains are very strongly wired to accept visual information.

A growing number of FTSE companies have been subjected to convincing impersonation-based attacks attempting fraud, with five attacks on FTSE 100 and one on a FTSE 250 companies reported: https://www.cityam.com/ai-deepfake-scams-hit-ftse-100-bosses/ reported, this is probably just the tip of the iceberg.

Deepfakes are not just a problem for finance, they are an issue for all sectors.  In showbusiness, for example, deepfake fraud has reportedly resulted losses of $200million. And there are plenty of reports of deepfakes being planted on social media to disrupt or influence political elections.

Hackers are already very experienced in social engineering, and when combined with the growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI), impersonation-based attacks using deepfakes will continue to become more prevalent and more believable. As AI continues to gather momentum so the barrier to entry is lowered meaning that relatively unskilled threat actors such as novice cyber criminals, hackers-for-hire and hacktivists are able to carry out more effective attacks.

So, what can organisations do to protect themselves and their employees?

Tackling Deepfakes and other Impersonation-based attacks

Increasingly, authenticating the source of news, content, and all manner of communications is critical. Being able to trust that you are communicating with the genuine person (and not an impostor) will be a key to safety online, and for any type of transaction, whether that is taking financial or legal instructions from colleagues or customers, sharing commercially sensitive information with third-parties in the supply chain, or discussing matters of state with trusted advisors and co-workers.

 

Identity-based Encryption will help to mitigate the risk

Technology is already available to protect sensitive business communications via voice, instant messaging and video conferencing. Secure communication solutions that use identity-based encryption help organisations to verify that only approved participants can join a group call or chat group, meaning that everyone on a video conference call (for example) has been authenticated. This type of security feature is NOT provided by mass-adoption communication platforms, where very often all that it needed to set up an account is a mobile phone number or email address, and those are very easily spoofed, hacked or compromised (e.g. by SIM-swapping).  A point demonstrated by the recent spate of warnings from the Dutch Government and Germany’s domestic intelligence agency about Signal and WhatsApp account hijacking incidents.

 

The benefits of Secure Communications

Built for purpose, secure by design and default communications platforms, such as those provided by Armour, offer several key differentiators that mass-adoption and free to use alternatives cannot.

  • By Invitation only – keep control of users because only authenticated, known people can register on the app and join a conversation. This also avoids mistaken
  • Identity-based encryption – ensures you can be sure who you are talking to.
  • Remote Wipe – messages and associated attachments can be deleted remotely if the device is lost, stolen or compromised.
  • Built-in protection against ‘jail-broken devices’ or devices compromised by malware to steal information, even when running on BYOD devices.
  • Accounts can be deleted immediately a person leaves the organisation so that they are unable to take valuable and sensitive information with them.
  • Protecting against other apps or AI accessing the microphone at the time of a call preventing eavesdropping (accidental or malicious).
  • All data is encrypted and stored within the Armour app, preventing malware from hoovering up sensitive data

 

Data Sovereignty

For those protecting the most sensitive of conversations, such as state secrets, military movements, or government negotiations, there are highly secure, on-premises communications solutions that ensure data sovereignty. By running an Armour on-premises solution organisations significantly reduce the potential attack vectors, as well as keeping total control of every aspect of their sensitive communications, ensuring that unprotected data never leaves sovereign shores. Importantly, don’t confuse Data Sovereignty with Data Residency, read our blog to understand the difference.

However, this isn’t just for government and military, every organisation has important information that they cannot allow to fall into the wrong hands, for example, price lists, customer details, product formulae, legal or financial instructions from clients, clinical or pharmaceutical research findings, patient records, amongst many other things. All organisations can benefit from using a secure communications platform to protect corporate assets and intellectual property.

Whether deployed on-premises (on in-house servers), or as a secure hosted solution, an enterprise-grade secure comms platform that covers voice calls, instant messaging and video conferencing ensures UK data sovereignty, i.e. organisational data stays on sovereign soil (something that Microsoft has admitted it can’t guarantee, even for UK Government users) and data separation (no mixing of data, be that of different classifications of data, or business and personal).

Secure Communications – What should you be looking for?

As the proliferation of deepfake/impersonation-based attacks demonstrates all too vividly, organisations of every shape and size in both public and commercial sectors need to start taking the cyber security of their communications seriously.  This means banning the use of unsanctioned shadow IT for business purposes.  When a built-for-purpose, Secure by Design secure comms platform can provide a slick user experience to rival any consumer app, plus the ability to manage and control organisational data, there is really no need to use consumer-grade apps.

To find out what you should be looking for, read our Buyer’s Guide: https://www.armourcomms.com/2023/06/29/securing-communications-channels-a-buyers-guide/

 

 

 

 

 

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Signal Phishing Advisory published – targeting military, journalists and politicians

How to mitigate phishing threats from malicious actors looking to infiltrate using mass adoption messaging platforms.

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) and the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) in Germany have issued an advisory about a phishing campaign using the messaging platform Signal.  The statement, highlighted by The Hacker News, says that this highly targeted, likely state-sponsored attack, is aimed at military personnel, investigative journalists and politicians.

The phishing attack doesn’t use any malicious code, it simply exploits an inherent weakness (intended to keep things simple for users) within the messaging platform – namely, that anyone can set up an account with just a device and a phone number.

The attacker pretending to be ‘Signal Support’ or a chatbot called ‘Signal Security ChatBot’ attempts to trick the victim into providing a PIN or verification code.  Should they fall for the trick, the attacker can register the account and access the victim’s profile, settings and contacts.  The victim is now locked out of their own account, but the attacker’s false ‘support’ persona encourages them to set up a new account.  Meanwhile the attacker can now see all communications on the victim’s account (although not previous communications because they are using a different device) and they can send messages to the victim’s contacts.  In this way the attacker can extract extremely sensitive information, not just from the victim, but from any of the group chats that the victim is party to.

There is a similar attack sequence that exploits a feature of Signal (or WhatsApp and similar platforms) that we have written about before, where the victim is tricked into scanning a malicious QR code. Read more here: https://www.armourcomms.com/2025/03/11/beware-malicious-qr-codes-when-using-whatsapp-and-signal/

How Armour mitigates this risk

A secure communications platform, such as Armour, mitigates this type of attack because it is completely within the control of the organisation and only those invited by an administrator can join.  In addition, identity-based encryption and authentication (NCSC’s MIKEY-SAKKE protocol), further ensures that participants in a voice call, instant messaging chat, or video conference, can be confident that they know who they are communicating with.

The Armour Secure Communications platform is already widely used across governments, defence organisations, and enterprises around the world.  For more information about what you should be looking for in a Secure Communications solution download our Buyer’s Guide: https://www.armourcomms.com/2023/06/29/securing-communications-channels-a-buyers-guide/

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Vishing is voice-based phishing – but how to spot the fake?

The rise of ‘vishing’.  In 2025 we saw cyber threats evolve to become more efficient and effective than ever before. Two attacks in particular grabbed UK headlines, the Jaguar Land Rover attack, which was reportedly the most expensive in history, disrupting production at a key time of year for new car sales. The second was an attack that hit several high profile retailers including Marks and Spencer, the Co-operative Group and Harrods, amongst others, the resulting outages disrupted retail operations for months.

The rise of Impersonation-based attacks

Organisations need to stay vigilant as hackers and cyber criminals up their game.  Impersonation-based attacks are particularly unnerving, whether it is an AI-powered deepfake, that fools people on a conference call into taking unsafe actions (usually transferring large amounts of cash), to the less talked about ‘vishing’ scams, which is voice-based phishing, where criminals pretend to be from real, trusted organisations in order to trick the victim out of information, to take a risky action such as a password reset, or to make a fraudulent transaction.

While vishing attacks tend to focus on individuals (the vulnerable are routinely targeted), they have also been used to great effect in a corporate setting – in a similar way to the CEO scams that we wrote about previously. Indeed, a growing number of companies have been subjected to convincing impersonation-based attacks attempting fraud, with attacks on FTSE 100 companies becoming the norm.

AI has been used to generate deepfake clones of CEOs that then instruct employees to transfer money for a deal that requires speed and secrecy – a takeover for example.  The attacks, which typically use a mix of unmonitored and insecure instant messaging (e.g. WhatsApp) and voice calls using the cloned voice, are now so prevalent they have been dubbed the ‘CEO scam’.

The situation has become so worrisome that the Australian Signals Directorate (equivalent of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, NCSC), published a warning about such social engineering techniques aimed at business people and employees whose role could make them a target.  Such roles could include:

  •  Executives, senior management and their staff
  •  System administrators and information technology (IT) service desks
  •  Those working in human resources, sales, marketing, finance and legal.

 

Typically the malicious actors will spoof caller IDs to make calls appear from trusted sources, and use AI voice cloning to mimic real people, like known executives or work colleagues.  They will also manufacture a sense of urgency to pressurise the recipient into quick decisions.

Organisations should ensure they have security procedures in place to verify the identity of any contact, particularly when sharing or discussing sensitive information.  This is where a secure communications platform, such as Armour, can help to protect the organisation.

Identity-based Encryption will help to mitigate the risk

Secure communication solutions that use identity-based encryption, such as the NCSC’s MIKEY-SAKKE protocol help organisations to verify that only approved participants can join a group call or chat group, meaning that everyone on a video conference call (for example) has been authenticated. This type of security feature, the bedrock of Armour’s product range, is NOT provided by mass-adoption communication platforms, where very often all that is needed to set up an account is a mobile phone number or email address, and those are very easily spoofed, hacked or compromised (e.g. by SIM-swapping).

For protecting the most sensitive of conversations, such as state secrets, military movements, or government negotiations, there are highly secure, on-premises communications solutions that can be used. By running an on-premises solution organisations significantly reduce the potential attack vectors, delivering genuine data sovereignty, as well as keeping total control of every aspect of their sensitive communications. Furthermore, Armour can now offer a quantum-safe VPN through partner Arqit, to protect sensitive information even against powerful quantum computers.

Organisations of every shape and size in both public and commercial sectors need to start taking the cyber security of their communications seriously.  This means banning the use of unsanctioned shadow IT for business purposes.  When a built-for-purpose, Secure by Design secure comms platform can provide a slick user experience to rival any consumer app, plus the ability to manage and control organisational data with auditable operational record keeping, why would you use anything else?

Contact us today, to see how Armour’s Secure Communications Platform could protect your organisation from vishing, phishing, social engineering and deep-fake, AI-powered impersonation-based attacks.

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Think you’ve got Data Sovereignty sorted?  Maybe time to think again

Data Residency v Data Sovereignty – One is Location, and One is Control, and the difference is critical

A series of revelations this year has fuelled increased debate about what true Data Sovereignty really means. Many organisations think they have ticked the Data Sovereignty box, when in reality they have Data Residency.

Data Residency is a term relatively recently coined to describe where data is held – i.e. where the datacentre that hosts it is located. Many organisations believe (erroneously) that if their data is held in the UK or EU, it is subject to those governing regulations, and therefore as the data is held on sovereign shores it is under their own control.

Data Sovereignty is a term that is often misused to refer to the location of data, when in fact, it means keeping total control of that data. Unless data is held on servers in-house, this is more difficult to achieve than it may at first appear. This is because most organisations use business products and services that are supplied by US tech giants (Microsoft and Amazon are the two that spring immediately to mind, but there are plenty of others).

Why are we talking about Data Residency v Data Sovereignty

In many industries, data sovereignty and keeping control of data, is extremely important for reasons of national security as well as for commercial reasons.  And, in certain cases, it is a legal requirement. Here are a couple of examples that hit the press during the last year where “sovereignty” was not all it was cracked up to be:

In June Computer Weekly reported that Microsoft cannot guarantee the sovereignty of UK data hosted on its hyperscale public cloud infrastructure.  In the detailed article Computer Weekly explains that under Part 3 of the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018, law enforcement data (the story was about the Scottish Police) must be kept within the UK, as must all public sector data under the G-Cloud 14 framework regulations.

A few weeks later in July The Register reported that; “Microsoft says it “cannot guarantee” data sovereignty to customers in France – and by implication the wider European Union – should the Trump administration demand access to customer information held on its servers.”

The article went on to explain how the CLOUD Act gives the US government authority to obtain digital data held by US-based technology companies irrespective of whether that data is stored on servers at home or on foreign soil. It is said to compel these companies, via warrant or subpoena, to accept the request for information. A Microsoft employee admitted in court that they would be compelled to reveal information to US officials, even if that data were held in France.

All of which contravenes GDPR and UK data protection legislation, however – whatever lip service may be paid to these laws – a US company is more likely to abide by US regulations, despite what a host nation may require.

Data Sovereignty and Secure Communications

At Armour Comms we have a long track record of working with higher assurance organisations, so when we talk about Data Sovereignty we understand the term, and we mean enabling our clients to keep total control of their data.  So that only the data owner has access to it.  This is particularly critical when handling sensitive or classified information.

The Armour® Secure Communications Platform is a federated, cross domain, interoperable architecture for secure communications – voice, instant messaging and video conferencing – enabling interoperability between organisations and their partners and supply chains.

The Armour Secure Communications Platform provides a range of options for on-premises, standalone, sovereign installations, that can be securely federated and provide secure interoperability with other communications, platforms as required.

Armour is approved for use at OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE and NATO RESTRICTED and with our partners, protects communications up to higher assurance levels.

For more information about Secure Communications that provide true Data Sovereignty, contact us today: sales@armourcomms.com, or read our blog: Cloud Repatriation -the new trend, https://www.armourcomms.com/2024/10/11/is-cloud-repatriation-the-new-trend/  or download our white paper: https://armourcomms-25743375.hs-sites-eu1.com/

 

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Cyber Security and Resilience (CSR) Bill – What you need to know

The new Cyber Security and Resilience (CSR) Bill which is currently going through parliament is designed to improve cyber security across a raft of industries that support critical national infrastructure.  For example, the new bill will bring into scope organisations that supply and support essential services such as the NHS, drinking water providers, energy, transport and even data centres.

In common with NIS2, which is applicable to EU organisations and those that transact with the EU, the CSR bill has a broad remit which means that the regulations will now apply to many more organisations than previous legislation.  As a result, companies – and with them their supply chains – that provide essential services to the public will become subject to far more stringent cyber security risk management requirements.

Medium and large businesses delivering services like IT management, IT help desk support and cyber security to private and public sector organisations – such as the NHS – will be regulated thanks to the CSR bill for the first time. Many hold trusted access across government, critical national infrastructure and business networks, so they need to meet security requirements, which includes having robust incident management plans in place to deal with the consequences of a serious cyber-attack.

The government press release announcing the new CSR Bill, says that regulators will be given new powers to designate critical suppliers to the UK’s essential services. And furthermore, that enforcement will include tougher turnover-based penalties for breaches.

This follows on from the Cyber Governance Code of Practice, published earlier this year by NCSC, which is built around five key principles, namely:

    • Risk Management
    • Strategy
    • People
    • Incident Planning, Response and Recovery
    • Assurance and Oversight

 

In each section there is an emphasis on the importance of appropriate action plans, allocation of resources and communication plans, in advance of a cyber-attack happening. And an Out-of-Band Secure Communications channel plays a critical role at every stage. Here is a summary of the action points that are supported by the adoption of an Out-of-Band secure communications platform.

Risk Management

Action: Define and clearly communicate the organisation’s cyber security risk appetite and gain assurance that the organisation has an action plan to meet these risk expectations.

The secure communications platform should be set up in advance, with pre-set users and call groups so that when an incident occurs, it can be handled in private without relying on other channels which may be monitored by adversaries or attackers.

Strategy

Action: Gain assurance that resources are allocated effectively to manage the agreed cyber risks.

A pre-defined communications plan, with groups set up in advance ensures that incident response teams (CSIRT), and executive management can simply get on with responding to the incident to get the organisation back on track as soon as possible.  This includes communication with supply chain partners, customers and other key stakeholders to keep them abreast of the situation. Timely communication helps to avoid knee jerk reaction from the media, and in the long term will protect brand reputation.

People

Action: promote a cyber security culture that encourages positive behaviours and accountability across all levels.

Adopting a secure communications platform for sensitive or confidential conversations not only provides employees with the appropriate tools to do their job so that they don’t need to rely on less secure channels. It also helps to foster a more security conscious culture within the organisation.

Incident planning, response and recovery

Action: In the event of an incident, take responsibility for individual regulatory obligations, such as reporting, and support the organisation in critical decision making and external communications.

When dealing with a serious cyber incident reputations can be won or lost.  It is critical at such times that communications with external stakeholders cannot be intercepted by nefarious parties, or the media (for example). The use of secure communications enables the organisation to keep control of the narrative, so that all stakeholders receive the correct information, at the appropriate time.

Assurance and oversight

Action: Establish regular two-way dialogue with relevant senior executives, including but not limited to the chief information security officer (or equivalent).

Action: Gain assurance that cyber security considerations are integrated and consistent with existing internal and external audit and assurance mechanisms.

By preparing communications strategies before an incident occurs – setting up all the key stakeholders that may need to communicate together – organisations can ensure a speedy response and ensure that they have documented communication protocols that are embedded in the Business Continuity Management plan.

For more information about what your organisation should be looking for to support your Cyber Security and Resilience (CSR) with an Out-of-Band secure communications platform, download our latest white paper: https://armourcomms-25743375.hs-sites-eu1.com/out-of-band-incident-management-response-white-paper

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AI, shadow IT and secure communications

Are your employees sharing sensitive information via AI? A secure comms platform ensures confidential information can’t be leaked 

A recent survey caught our eye, about the use of AI and how often sensitive information is shared when it shouldn’t be. As well as concerns about sharing commercially sensitive or confidential information, it also raises another question.  Could your organisation be in the running for a GDPR/ICO fine?  If your employees are using a personal AI/LLM such as ChatGPT, you could well be.

The survey, reported by The Register: https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/07/gen_ai_shadow_it_secrets/, found that 22% cut and paste sensitive information (e.g. Personally Identifiable Information PII subject to Data Protection laws).  A whopping 82% do so from a personal account – meaning there is no oversight for the business.  And although ChatGPT is currently the most popular AI/LLM app by some considerable margin, Microsoft is looking to gain market share, and is reportedly to start supporting personal Copilot account usage in enterprise environments – so more unmonitorable data leaking out to who knows where.

If all of this sounds depressingly familiar to data/cyber security specialists, that’s because it is exactly the same issue as the use of consumer instant messaging apps. Remember the numerous instances of MPs’ disappearing WhatsApp messages debacle? https://www.armourcomms.com/2025/04/11/secure-communications-providing-the-right-tools-to-do-the-job/  

A secure communications platform, that is designed to be Secure by Design and Default from its inception, protects any sensitive and/or confidential discussions that take place within its secure comms ecosystem.  This includes preventing any of the conversations being copied and pasted into other applications, including AI/LLM apps.

Employees have a long track record of using the most convenient tools they can lay their hands on to do the job – such unauthorised solutions (often referred to as shadow IT) are the scourge of the IT department and CISOs everywhere. The danger is that in the rush to get the job done, staff may forget that once information has been shared with their personal AI account, it is effectively leaked, for the AI app to use and share with the world. If organisations are to avoid a GDPR fine of 4% of global turnover, they need to get ahead of the curve, fast.

 Central management of users significantly mitigates the risks

As the IT department knows all too well, a lack of central management of users spells trouble. Not only is there the risk of sensitive data being shared inappropriately, but social engineering attacks are proliferating, with cybercriminals assuming false user identities in order to gain access to enterprise systems. A centrally controlled communications platform, where only those that are invited can join (and to do so, must authenticate securely), mitigates many of the risks associated with impersonation-based attacks, and provides the organisation with the oversight required to comply with data protection and operational resilience regulations.

For handling sensitive, higher assurance conversations and data, instant messaging apps must be Secure by Design and Secure by Default. For example, the use of crypto protocols such as identity-based encryption will ensure a user really is who they say they are, and so prevent impostor-based attacks. Without built-in security features, with default settings to control users and data, instant messaging apps are prone to human error as well as deliberate mis-use. Not least of this, is cutting and pasting information and sharing it with third party applications, and the organisation subsequently losing control of the copied data.

Award-winning Armour secure communications

The Armour® Secure Communications Platform (multiple recipient of the SC Awards Best Communications Security Solution) provides an alternative to consumer grade applications. The platform brings together a quick-to-deploy, easy-to-use solution that can be used on both mobile devices and desktops, with enterprise security features not provided by mass-adoption collaboration products or free-to-use consumer apps. It protects data throughout its lifecycle, providing all elements of mobile communications/collaboration including voice, instant messaging, and video conferencing, encrypting data both at-rest and over-the-air.

The Armour Secure Communications Platform offers total data sovereignty within a controlled environment where all users are centrally managed and enrolled.  Users can only enrol once invited to do so by their Administrator.  Once their device is enrolled, the user authenticates to the communications app in their usual manner (which can include in-built biometric readers) and only then can they use the service.

As a trusted third-party system, the Armour Secure Communications Platform can be used for sensitive conversations, safely segregated from the IT infrastructure used for everyday communications.

Armour Secure Comms Platform provides control of users and data

  • Complete central control over users and data – only those invited by an administrator can use the platform.
  • Armour centrally controls the ability to cut and paste information, significantly reducing data leakage to AI/LLM apps such as ChatGPT, MS Copilot and others.
  • Multi-domain, multi-organisation structure with strictly siloed security means that Armour can augment and broaden secure communications and collaboration capabilities.
  • Corporate Confidential, OFFICIAL, OFFICIAL SENSITIVE, NATO RESTRICTED, and higher assurance collaboration can be provided securely via Armour Cloud extending to include desktops, workstations and unified comms systems (such as office phone systems).
  • Alternatively, the Armour installation can be hosted and managed on-premises to give the organisation total data sovereignty.

The Armour Mobile app is every bit as engaging and easy to use as consumer and mass-adoption collaboration apps, which typically results in high adoption rates amongst our clients (reducing any reliance on shadow IT).

To learn more about how The Armour Secure Communications Architecture and Platform could help your business to avoid data leakage, and GDPR fines, download a copy of our white paper: https://armourcomms-25743375.hs-sites-eu1.com/

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DSEI Round-up Reflections from the largest defence sector exhibition in the calendar

Armour CEO, David Holman, shares his thoughts on DSEI UK

Despite the Tube strike, DSEI UK, held at ExCeL, 9 – 12 September was absolutely buzzing!  The show was busy and vibrant, with a plethora of robotic dogs, drones (or anti-drone tech), along with the usual impressive array of defence hardware. In the software and cybersecurity ecosystem zone (the new “Maritime” Hall 15) we were run off our feet.

Sea-change – consumer apps no longer tolerated

Since the last DSEI UK in 2023 we have seen a step change in the attitude within this market toward the use of consumer apps for communication.  While once they were tolerated we are now seeing a conscious move away from the likes of WhatsApp and even Signal. All this in the wake of widespread headlines, including arguably the most high profile example, where a journalist was mistakenly included in US government discussions about sensitive military operations (aka “SignalGate”).

The BBC reported that the journalist’s number was mistakenly attributed to one of the government staff who was invited to the group chat. (While in this instance, it was human error that such sensitive data leaked to the outside world, an app that was Secure by Design would have ensured that user identities could not be confused in this way.)

The ’SignalGate’ wake-up call has resulted in many governments and defence organisations looking afresh at sovereign capabilities for secure communications.

Delegations galore

Across the week we were visited by six military delegations from countries in the EU and beyond, supporting our continued export drive.  In addition, we had meetings prebooked back to back throughout the show, and there was plenty of passing footfall to keep us busy.

British Army Project and Industry collaborations announced

This year we had significant collaboration from our SI partners, with Armour solutions a part of capabilities demonstrated by ATOS, Fujitsu and Roke. Our relationships with SiXworks and PentenAmio have already resulted in joint solutions being actively used within HMG/MoD. .

We were also pleased to be able to discuss our on-going work with the British Army with many of the military attendees to supply secure voice, conferencing and operational record keeping, protecting our troops in the most challenging environments.

Roke’s Charlie Charlie One (CC1)

Armour Mobile is now available for the CC1 AI-enabled Tactical End User device which was demonstrated at the show, and it was certainly a  popular talking point on the stand. Together Armour Mobile and Roke’s CC1 devices provide troops with everything they need for battlefield situational awareness.

For more information about Armour’s Secure Communications architecture and platform for defence organisations read our white paper: https://armourcomms-25743375.hs-sites-eu1.com/https/armourcomms-25743375.hubspotpagebuilder.eu/dsei-25-defence-military-secure-communications-white-paper

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Armour Mobile is now available for Roke CC1 tactical end user devices

Armour Comms and Roke are partnering to showcase the Armour Mobile secure communications capabilities on the Roke CC1 AI-enabled Tactical End User Device at DSEI 2025.  Armour Mobile, which is Secure by Design and Default, is already used by military organisations for a wide range of use cases covering voice, instant messaging, video, conferencing and operational record keeping.

David Holman, Director and Co-Founder of Armour Comms said: “Growing concerns over the reliance on consumer grade messaging apps, and the 10-year security plan, has resulted in the British Army, amongst others, procuring Armour Mobile to provide a sovereign solution that will protect troops and their sensitive data/intelligence in the most challenging environments. Deploying Armour Mobile on Roke’s CC1 devices provides troops with everything they need for battlefield situational awareness.”

The Armour Secure by Design architecture mitigates the vulnerabilities present in consumer grade apps that pose unacceptable risks for military and defence organisations such as those demonstrated by the so called ‘Signalgate’ incident, and, AI generated deepfake and imposter-based attacks.

Armour at DSEI – Stand No: S15-122

Armour will exhibiting at DSEI 2025, where visitors can see Armour Mobile running on a variety of different devices including mobile, desktop and tablet, and, new for DSEI, the Roke CC1 (Charlie Charlie One) ruggedised device for battlefield situational awareness.

About Armour Mobile

The Armour Secure Communications Platform provides a federated, cross domain, centrally managed architecture for secure communications – voice, instant messaging, video and conferencing and attachments – enabling interoperability between trusted units and with third parties. Approved for use at UK OFFICIAL, OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE and NATO RESTRICTED, Armour also protects communications at higher assurance levels.

Used by military, national security, government agencies, defence organisations and friendly forces in the UK and beyond, Armour provides a range of deployment options including secure cloud SaaS, on-premises, standalone, and sovereign installations that can be securely federated as required, supporting the requirements for edge computing.

About CC1

CC1 is designed to empower battlefield decision makers on the ground in the defence operations domain. CC1 is built on commercial off the shelf technology, and allows for scalable, uncompromising tactical advantage.

Uncompromising Enhanced Situational Awareness. Flexible, scalable, and intuitive – CC1 informs, advises, and leverages AI technology to ensure quick decision-making and increased battlefield autonomy and responsiveness

 About Roke

 At Roke, we stand at the forefront of defence and security, delivering cutting-edge intelligence and engineering solutions that protect nations, troops, borders, and businesses. We bring the credibility of a long-standing defence and national security leader, the precision of a specialist, and the agility to solve complex, high-stakes challenges with purpose and impact.

For almost 70 years, our innovations have safeguarded the UK and its allies. Our comprehensive technological ecosystem – spanning AI-powered analytics, advanced cyber security, autonomous systems, tactical drones, high-sensitivity sensors, electromagnetic spectrum dominance, secure communications, and cutting-edge robotics – ensures that those on the mission edge stay ahead of emerging threats. We don’t just provide intelligence; we help our customers understand the world they operate in and the risks they face.

At the heart of Roke is a team of pioneers – scientists, veterans, engineers, and intelligence professionals – who don’t just imagine the future of warfare, national resilience, and public safety, but build it. We move fast, solving today’s most pressing security challenges, like drones, quantum and AI, while shaping the battlefield of tomorrow. We are proud of our heritage as British innovators, and our commitment to sovereignty, security, and progress is unwavering.

We’re proud to be part of the Chemring Group plc, providing us with expertise, corporate strength and access to international markets for our world-leading intellectual property.

For more information please visit: www.roke.co.uk

 

About Armour Comms

Armour Communications Limited is a UK based company supplying market leading technology for secure communication via 3/4/5G, Wi-Fi and satellite for voice, video, instant messaging, conferencing, and data on Android, iOS, Windows, Linux and macOS platforms

The Armour Secure Communications Platform is available as Cloud or On-Premises solutions to provide sovereign capability.

Armour’s products include approved offerings up to OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE and NATO Restricted with solutions via selected Armour partners available to mitigate threats up to higher assurance levels.

Armour’s products are trusted by Government departments, military and defence organisations, banks, law enforcement and enterprises around the world.

Join us on Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/armour-communications-ltd/