A cyberattacker can leave a data center with unencrypted hard drives, and even the most current firewall in the world will not stop them. It is crucial that businesses have the right policies, procedures, and processes in place to protect their data, keep it secure, make sure their infrastructure is robust, and ultimately make them resilient. Businesses should conduct a thorough information security audit of their networks and systems to determine how vulnerable they are to an attack. Red Teaming is an offensive security approach that can help. This has led to a rise in demand for Red Team specialists within the organizations.
There are many career options available today that will have long-term implications. Is Red Teaming the right career choice for you? This article will explain what Red Teaming is, and the benefits of being an expert Red Teamer so that you can decide if it is the career for you.
What is Red Teaming?
Red Teaming can be used to assess your organization’s security vulnerabilities. It’s based on the belief that mimicking an attacker can help improve your security team’s defense. A Red Team, also known by ethical or white-hat hackers, is a group that has been trained in hacking and uses their knowledge to “good” use Tactics Techniques and Procedures (TTPs), as used by real adversaries. Their goal is to show the consequences of successful cyberattacks to improve enterprise cybersecurity. This team challenges organizations to improve their effectiveness by playing an antagonistic role or perspective. Although the Red Team is independent of an organization, it can also be part of it.
What is the difference between Red Team and Penetration Testing?
Red Teaming can be mistakenly referred to as Penetration Testing, but it is fundamentally different in its scope and depth. Penetration Testing is designed to identify and exploit all vulnerabilities in a short time span, while Red Teaming requires a more detailed assessment that can take several weeks. Red Teaming activities are used for evaluating an organization’s detection, response capabilities and to meet specific goals.
What is the role of a Red Team?
Red Teams function in this way: leaders recognize the potential for a cybersecurity breach within their organization. A Red Team can be used by an organization to reduce risk and discover vulnerabilities from an impartial and adversarial perspective. Once the Red Team is formed, they will start working with the company’s trusted personnel. Now it is up to the Red Team’s technical skills to exploit the weaknesses of the company. The Red Team’s primary phases are as follows:
Perform reconnaissance: Thieves will be more likely to break into a residence if they know the layout and family routine. The Red Team can also gain a good understanding of the client’s organization by performing reconnaissance. This is the first phase of learning the terrain.
Gain Access: After a thorough understanding of the target and their vulnerabilities, a Red Team can plan and execute the best routes to gain access.
Enumeration, Escalation: Once they have access, the Red Team assesses their position to determine where they want it to be. This could require escalation or a higher level of user access. The Red Team conducts reconnaissance within the network to determine the best position for them to reach their goal.
Pivot: Once the team has established a strategic foothold, they will continue to explore and exploit additional network nodes to help them move laterally to vital business assets and their desired objective.
Persistence: The more skilled an attacker, the greater his chances of being caught.