Red Teaming

In today’s ever-evolving threat landscape, it’s vital to know how your defences would stand up to a cyber attack. Moreover, it’s crucial to constantly improve and strengthen your security measures. Red teaming is a technique that allows you to do just that. By simulating a real-world attack, you can test how your business would respond and what damage could be done. With a realistic understanding of your security posture, you’re in a much better position to take the right steps to secure your business. 

What is Red Teaming?

Red teaming and penetration testing share common objectives in assessing and enhancing cybersecurity but differ in scope and methodology. Both involve simulating cyberattacks to uncover vulnerabilities. However, penetration testing is typically a narrow, focused assessment that aims to identify specific vulnerabilities or weaknesses in a system or application. In contrast, red teaming is a broader approach that encompasses more than just technical aspects. In this way, it challenges not only your security solutions themselves but also your plans, policies and assumptions.

Red teaming is based around stealth and evasion and performed with the security team and wider business having as close to zero knowledge as possible that it is happening. By keeping the security team, known as the blue team, in the dark, red teaming forces them to respond as if it’s an actual attack and provides a more accurate assessment of your security posture. After the attack, the blue team outlines any indicators of compromise detected and the red team breaks down the tools, techniques and procedures they used. Together, these create a list of actionable items that can be performed to improve your existing security measures.

When Do You Need Red Teaming?

Whether you're a startup looking to establish a robust security foundation or a well-established enterprise seeking to enhance your existing defences, red teaming offers unique value. Here are a few scenarios where Red Teaming is particularly beneficial:

• Security Assessment - before launching a new product or service, conducting a red team assessment can help identify vulnerabilities that traditional security testing might miss.
• Incident Response - red teaming can be invaluable for testing your incident response plan. By simulating cyberattacks, you can ensure your team is well-prepared to handle real incidents effectively.
• Regulatory Compliance - many industries have stringent compliance requirements. Red Teaming can help you assess and meet these requirements by identifying and mitigating security risks.

Ultimately, just about any company, public or private, can benefit from red teaming. However, preparation is key. By first completing several rounds of penetration testing and having a solid cybersecurity baseline, you’ll realise greater value from red teaming.
 

The Business Benefits of Red Teaming

The aim of red teaming is to overcome group thinking, confirmation bias and other common ways of thinking that can stand in the way of critical decision-making. Beyond its role in enhancing security, red teaming provides several tangible business benefits:

• Risk Mitigation - red teaming helps you identify and address vulnerabilities before cybercriminals can exploit them, reducing the risk of data breaches and other cyber incidents.
• Cost Savings - investing in red teaming can ultimately save you money by preventing costly security breaches and the associated legal and reputational consequences.
• Continuous Improvement - red teaming is an ongoing process that encourages a culture of continuous improvement in cybersecurity and can help you stay ahead of evolving threats. 
• Test Defences - not only does red teaming test your security measures, it puts your threat detection and response capabilities under the spotlight and allows you to see what’s working and, most importantly, what’s not. 

Red teaming serves as a highly effective way to find out which of your controls, solutions and policies are and aren’t working when it comes to a real-world attack. Moreover, it gives you a chance to identify vulnerabilities and take action to strengthen your defences.