Enterprise communication has changed dramatically over time. What began with emails since shifted to brief messages on platforms like Teams or Slack, and now again has changed so that much of it now takes place through employees’ personal instant messaging apps.
Whether it’s WhatsApp, iMessage, WeChat, Telegram, or SMS, employees are increasingly using consumer messaging apps to communicate with clients, partners, and even colleagues.
What began as a convenience during the early days of remote work, when each company was using different, and often incompatible UC software, has now become an entrenched part of daily workflows.
Although interoperability between platforms has improved, the seamless capability people get from using WhatsApp to message customers and clients means the practice persists.
However, by allowing staff to embrace this convenience, many businesses have unknowingly opened the door to serious security and compliance risks.
“Messaging has become a frontline communication tool,” says Ari Applbaum, VP of Marketing at LeapXpert. “But the underlying infrastructure, the tools, the governance, even user behavior, is still rooted in legacy channels like email. That creates a massive exposure gap.”
That gap is being exploited. The use of WhatsApp is increasingly attracting hackers who know that vital business information is passing through it. As a result, adversaries are using it as their preferred point of entry.
Once breached, businesses face data leaks, regulatory violations, and reputational damage, often with no way to protect themselves.
While most IT teams have built rigorous governance around email, very few have done the same for messaging. Attackers know this and are moving fast.
How Hackers Exploit the Messaging Gap
As messaging apps become business-critical tools, attackers target them as the path of least resistance. “Hackers have adapted quickly,” Applbaum explains. “They know businesses are messaging-first but security-second, that makes chat a soft target.”
Equally, these attacks are augmented by AI to use increasingly sophisticated phishing that can accurately impersonate clients. Indeed, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center, impersonation scams have soared 148% year-on-year, thanks in part to AI tools.
Even small deviations in tone or punctuation can be AI-generated to mimic trusted senders. With WhatsApp messaging boasting a 98% open rate, and users treating chat messages with less scrutiny than email, phishing attempts are not only more believable but also sees increased engagement.
Once opened, a message might dupe the worker to clicking a link by claiming to be a client sharing a contract or a colleague requesting feedback on some work. Malware can then be loaded onto the worker’s phone, wreaking havoc.
This gives attackers access to all business-specific information discussed on that device: pricing, strategy, accounts, anything.
“Mobile device management secures the device,” says Applbaum, “but it doesn’t secure message content. That’s a common misconception.” He adds that end-to-end encryption is not a silver bullet: “Encrypted in transit doesn’t mean safe. You must consider where data is stored, how it’s processed, and who controls the keys.”
Companies have no way to detect or stop these breaches because business data on off-channel messaging isn’t connected to corporate systems. Personal cloud backups, auto-sync, and private storage mean sensitive data can live and leak from unmanaged environments.
The risks from such an occurrence range from compliance failures to breaches that threaten customer trust and regulatory rules.
Secure Messaging, Built for the Enterprise
You may think that one way of solving this challenge is to cease the use of off-channel messaging. Yet, that would prove futile and even a hindrance to valuable business being conducted on these channels.
But solving this requires more than adding security tools to existing apps; it demands rethinking messaging architecture.
LeapXpert offers a system that meets employees where they are while giving IT full control.
“Most tools were built for consumers and retrofitted for business,” Applbaum says.
“We flipped that. LeapXpert was built for enterprise-grade control and compliance first, introducing a single professional identity, one number across channels, within corporate governance.”
This approach eliminates what Applbaum calls “comms chaos.” Instead of requiring employees to juggle multiple apps, numbers, and accounts, LeapXpert allows them to use the same identity whilst using their preferred method of communications, be it WhatsApp, SMS, or iMessage. Equally, because it is under this single identity, this places all of these conversations happening across these channels firmly under the company’s enterprise communication umbrella.
Conversations are captured and governed centrally, giving organizations full visibility without disrupting user experience.
Equally, this overview companies get by unifying their communication channel enables real-time surveillance, metadata capture, and policy enforcement. Messages, even deleted or edited, are logged and archived per regulations, making compliance proactive.
Plus, this solution doesn’t just help govern your data but protect it, too. One of LeapXpert’s standout innovations, designed to detect this new AI threat in messaging, can be deployed as part of this unifying system.
Piloted with HSBC, this AI-powered impersonation detection engine analyzes how individuals typically communicate, down to word choice and punctuation, and flags deviations that could indicate fraud or spoofing.
Once you unify communications at the platform level, businesses no longer have to choose between productivity and security, they can have both.
Why Solving Messaging Security Can’t Wait
Off-channel messaging is not a cultural issue to be fixed, it’s a vulnerability waiting to be secured. Every message sent outside IT’s visibility increases the risk of a breach, a regulatory fine, or a public incident that can cost a company its reputation overnight.
As Applbaum emphasizes, protecting data is just one part of the equation. Organizations are also safeguarding customer relationships, brand equity, and trust.
Applbaum advises a clear risk assessment to address this: evaluate how employees communicate, where conversations are stored, and if channels meet regulatory standards. Then, move beyond reactive policies to secure-by-design platforms built on zero-trust, native APIs, and enterprise certifications.
Platforms must integrate with collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams to reduce friction, boost adoption, and maintain security without disrupting work. “If you want users to stick with a secure solution,” Applbaum says, “it has to fit how they already work.”
Finally, scrutinize technology partners for security posture, audit trails, and adaptability to new threats. Messaging isn’t going away. But the gap between communication and protection must close and fast.
Messaging isn’t going away, but the gap between communication and protection must close, and fast. Those who act now will avoid disaster, build resilience, and secure the competitive advantage that real-time messaging brings. Don’t let your business become a hacker’s heaven: take the first step towards secure, compliant communication today.
