Despite persistent efforts by organizations to protect their business-critical digital assets, threat actors find ways to infiltrate their IT systems. Businesses recognize these threats, and they also allocate significant resources to protect themselves.
However, despite these efforts, success in completely thwarting cyber threats seems limited.This underscores the importance of proactively identifying and addressing vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.
Enter the red team assessment!
It employs more rigorous and realistic methods than traditional penetration testing.
Various reports also confirm this. For example, McKinsey’s Organizational Cyber Maturity Survey of Industries Report, 2024 states that organizations with mature cybersecurity practices, including regular red team assessments, experience fewer security breach incidents. They also have better incident response capabilities.
What is Red Team Assessment?
As evident from the name, red team assessment is a technique for rigorously testing organizations’ security policies, plans, systems, preparedness, and incident response capability. Put simply, a red team consists of ethical hackers who think and act like adversaries.
Red teamers create attack scenarios to ascertain how a system’s security strategy would respond when a malicious attacker carries a real threat. They mimic real-life attackers and try to intrude on an organization’s system. The simulation allows experts to discover the security vulnerabilities of their IT environment that would otherwise have never been detected.
Red teaming is essentially pentesting with a broader scope. The core activities, tools, and goals of both may appear the same, but red teaming is better tailored for modern security needs.
For example, penetration testers have been using techniques like lateral movement and bypassing defenses—even back in 2010, but red teaming leverages new frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK, which makes it more powerful.
Red Teaming vs. Penetration Testing: How Do They Differ?
Though red teaming and penetration testing are often used interchangeably, the approach and methodology differ.
Penetration testing, or PT, is a tool-assisted manual assessment that evaluates how far a malicious attacker will penetrate an organization’s IT network by exploiting vulnerabilities. Pen tests typically involve testing, systems, web apps, mobile devices, etc.
Unlike red teaming, pen testing is not a stealthy process, as the organization and security teams are aware of the testing. Plus, pen testers’ approach is to find as many security vulnerabilities as possible.
A red team assessment is a stealthy way of conducting tests. Red teamers employ a team of ethical hackers who work silently and secretly for an extended period. This approach aims to understand target systems and gain an in-depth understanding of the people, technology, and environment.
They adopt numerous techniques, such as malicious file payloads, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) cloners, and hardware trojans. Red teamers may use social engineering or plant hardware trojans. In short, they can adopt any methodology to intrude into the system and exploit opportunities.
| Parameters | Penetration Testing | Red Teaming |
| Time | Typically shorter, ranging from days to a few weeks | May last up to over a month |
| Objective | Identifying exploitable vulnerabilities and risks | Testing detection, response, and security culture |
| Tactics | Uses tailored methodologies for different scopes and targets | Real-world tactics, social engineering, and data exfiltration |
| Outcome | Identification of vulnerabilities with remediation advice | Insights into overall security posture with recommendations |
| Cost | Generally cheaper due to limited testing time. | Often more expensive due to longer duration and techniques |
| Nature | Non stealthy | Stealthy, like a real-world attack scenario |
How Red Team Assessment Works
A red team assessment follows a systematic and structured process running into various phases to simulate a real-world cyber threat scenario. The typical stages of a red team assessment include:
1. Setting Objectives: The initial phase includes planning and goal mapping. This ensures all stakeholders align on the process’s rules and goals.
2. Reconnaissance: In this phase, red teamers gather information about the organization’s IT network, its technology, infrastructure, and employees.
3. Vulnerability Discovery: Based on the reconnaissance stage findings, red teamers identify vulnerabilities and potential attack paths through active testing.
4. Vulnerability Exploitation: After identifying vulnerabilities, the red team attempts to exploit them to gain access to the target’s systems using safe exploitation techniques to bypass security restrictions.
5. Probing: At this stage, the red team analyzes how far they can move laterally within the network. The goal is to understand the network’s depth and identify further opportunities to achieve their objectives.
6. Exfiltration: In this phase, the red team attempts to extract sensitive information from the target environment while avoiding detection.
7. Reporting: This is the last stage, during which the red team provides a detailed report that includes vulnerabilities discovered, how they were exploited, and actionable recommendations to improve the incident response capabilities.
Benefits of Red Team Assessment
As adversaries become increasingly sophisticated, conducting a comprehensive evaluation of their security stance has become imperative for organizations. Data also confirms this trend.
According to an MIT report on the status of cybersecurity breaches, 2023, ransomware attacks increased by more than 50% between October 2022 and September 2023, compared to the previous 12 months.
Alejandro Mayorkas, the US Secretary of Homeland Security, echoing his concerns regarding cyberspace, states, “We assess that cyberattacks targeting US networks will increase in both the near and long terms. Cybercriminals have developed effective business models to maximize their financial gain, success rates, and anonymity.”
That’s why more businesses are turning to red team assessment to test their cybersecurity preparedness.
Now, the question is, how can enterprises benefit from this scenario? What are the advantages of investing in this type of endeavor? Here are some key advantages of red team assessment:
1. In-Depth Analysis of security Posture:
Red team assessment allows organizations to identify hidden weaknesses in their technology, people, and processes. Based on the evaluation, CISOs can take a fresh look at the internal security scenario and find practical solutions to the problems.
2. Enhanced Security:
Red teams comprise cybersecurity experts who are equipped with the expertise to handle the most modern and sophisticated threats. This enables you to bolster security preparedness and eliminate the chance of costly breaches.
3. Increased ROI:
It maximizes the return on the investment made in securing an organization by analyzing how well-equipped the security system is, helping to avoid millions of dollars of losses after a breach.
4. Efficient Prioritization:
Red team tactics can help prioritize vulnerability remediation, cybersecurity measure implementation, and security expenses.
5. Improved Compliance:
Red team analysis allows companies to view weaknesses critical to regulatory compliance and fix them as soon as possible.
Who Can Benefit From Red Team Assessment?
The following groups can reap the benefits of red team assessments:
1. Organizational Leaders:
Red team assessments empower organizational leaders to glean insights into their organization’s security posture and make informed decisions to mitigate security threats.
2. Security Professionals:
Practical experience in identifying, testing, and improving their defenses immensely benefit security professionals. These assessments add to their perspective on dealing with evolving security threats.
3. IT Professionals:
Red team assessment allows IT professionals to spot weaknesses in their security posture. For example, a red team assessment may use social engineering tactics to extract business-critical information, revealing critical employee training and skills gaps.
4. Managed Service Providers (MSPs):
MSPs benefit from red team assessments by offering their clients advanced security testing services. For example, MSPs can uncover weaknesses in network configurations, application security, or incident response plans that cyber attackers could exploit.
Common Red Team Assessment Strategies
Red teams use a multi-pronged approach and diverse tools and techniques to achieve their objectives. These tactics have been designed to identify security loopholes to detect all weak spots in organizations’ IT environments. Here is a list of ethical hacking tactics employed by red teams:
Web Application Penetration Testing
Web application penetration testing is considered effective in identifying web app design and configuration-related security flaws. For this, they use a technique, such as cross-site request forgery, to gain unauthorized access to the application layer.
Network Penetration Testing
Network penetration testing is mainly used to spot network-related misconfigurations, such as open ports on a wireless network.
Physical Penetration Testing
Physical penetration testing process searches for weaknesses in various physical security controls. Once they gain access, attackers install backdoors to continue accessing the system.
Clearing Tracks
Clearing tracks focuses on removing all evidence of hacking activity to avoid detection. This involves disabling auditing, manipulating logs, modifying registry values, and removing the most recently used data. Employing such techniques allows them to eliminate traces of hacking during the process.
Social Engineering
Social Engineering process focuses on exploits carried out on people to obtain sensitive information like passwords or access keys through phishing scams or by providing falsified information.
How Does Red Teaming Support Regulatory Compliance?
The main objective of a red teaming assessment exercise is to strengthen the IT security team’s defensive capability, but it also helps in regulatory compliance efforts. Numerous regulatory and compliance standards, such as GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS, demand safeguarding sensitive data from potential threats.
Furthermore, conducting red teaming exercises allows enterprises to identify hidden vulnerabilities and weaknesses that may inadvertently result in non-compliance with these regulations. Thus, this prepares organizations to comply with global rules by enhancing compliance support capabilities.
Certifications And Expertise For Red Team Assessors Possess
Highly skilled and specialized professionals conduct red team assessments. Here is a list of certifications and skills required for a red team assessment.
1. Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP): A highly reputed certification that validates practical hands-on penetration testing skills.
2. CREST Registered Tester (CRT): Widely recognized certification in the UK and internationally for penetration testing skills.
3. Certified Red Team Operator (CRTO): This is a relatively new certification that focuses on techniques such as adversary simulation, command & control, engagement planning, and reporting.
4. OffSec Exploit Developer (OSED): OSED aims to certify the expertise necessary to write offensive shellcodes and develop custom exploits from scratch.
5. OffSec Experienced Pentester (OSEP): This validates skills needed for penetrating robust IT systems.
6. OffSec Web Expert (OSWE): An advanced web application security system for all forms of web apps.
Key Questions to Ask Before Red Teaming Exercises
Red team assessment solutions are tailored to meet various organizational needs. But it’s important to ask specific questions from stakeholders before the upcoming assessment:
- What are the Red Teaming exercise’s critical goals and objectives you want to achieve?
- Who will be involved in the exercise, and what roles will they play?
- What are the events that can result in severe damage to an organization’s brand reputation in the case of anything going wrong?
- What are critical IT infrastructures organizations rely on, including hardware and software?
- What are the possible consequences of their compromise on the organization’s critical assets?
Conclusion
Red teams hack, but they do it to protect organizations’ computing infrastructure and networks. This is an advanced and effective method of assessing the robustness of security systems when integrated with additional security measures and defensive security techniques, fortifying against potential attackers.
Why Choose SecureLayer7
SecureLayer7 for red team assessment can be your preferred choice for several reasons:
- Full Scope Testing: We offer full-scope red teaming security assessment services, which allow organizations to gain a comprehensive understanding of systems, applications, and infrastructure.
- Realistic Simulation: SecureLayer7’s team consists of experts who use advanced simulation techniques to mimic real-world attacks, offering a comprehensive evaluation of the IT environment.
- In-Depth Vulnerability Report: Our reports provide a deeper understanding of vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit.
- Offensive Security Experts: We have a pool of certified offensive security professionals with CEH, OSCP, and other respected IT security industry certifications.
- Actionable Recommendations: We provide tactical and strategic recommendations with clear recommendations to eliminate risks.
Interested in unlocking the benefits of Red Teaming assessments?
If you have any questions in mind, our certified experts can assist you in getting started. We are just one call or email away. Our team is ready to help. Get in touch with us now.
Frequently Asked Questions
The red and blue teams are two sides of the same coin. Red Teaming refers to the offensive team responsible for launching attacks, while Blue Teaming focuses on implementing defensive strategies.
One excellent example of Red Teaming is social engineering, where testers manipulate employees to obtain sensitive data, access codes, passwords, and keys through phishing scams.
You can hire a professional red team or use an internal team to conduct the assessment. However, it is generally better to employ third-party red teamers, as they are more likely to view the project from an outsider’s perspective, free from any biases.
Red teamers must follow defined guidelines, testing methods, and communication protocols, and report their findings after the process.
This includes the duration, the number of testers, and the degree of access granted to the red team.
Red team assessments require careful planning, collaboration with blue teams, and a high level of readiness to maximize their benefits. However, despite their effectiveness in handling APT (Advanced Persistent Threat) cyber-attacks, not all organizations are ready for them, as they may not be fully equipped to track, detect, and defend against red team tactics.
Here are some additional considerations for red teaming exercises:
Legal and Ethical Compliance: Before conducting a red team assessment, it is essential to address all legal and ethical considerations to avoid unintended risks.
Post-Assessment Procedures: After the assessment, red teamers should provide detailed reports discussing their findings, recommendations, and strategies to strengthen the organization’s security.
