In this cyber security preparedness world, there are several strategies that small and large organizations can take to help protect their networks and data from cyber-attacks. An organization testing its own environment for security vulnerabilities is one such strategy.
As there are different forms of security weaknesses, it is crucial to have a focused security team that can comprehensively search for any vulnerabilities beyond the simple risk assessments. Part of such a dedicated security team can include a Red Team.
What is a Red Team?
The Red Team has a responsibility to run the simulated cyber attacks on either their own organization or other organizations as part of their contracted external security services to establish the effectiveness of the organization's security programs.
The tools and techniques that the Red Teams use are the same used in pen tests or ethical hacking, but it is worth noting that the Red Team's objective is different. The attacks that the Red Teams employ are multi-layered simulations specially designed to gauge how well a company's networks, people, applications, and security controls can detect, alert and respond to any genuine attack.
What is Red Team Testing?
It is an Adversary Simulation or Red Teaming. During the testing, highly experienced security professionals guise as real attackers and attempted to breach the cyber defenses of the organization. The enacted attack scenarios are designed to exercise different attack surfaces that are presented by the organization and identify any gaps in detective, preventive, and response-related security controls.
Before the assessment, rules of engagement are established between the smallest sets of participants and the Red Team members within the organization. During the exercise, the Red Team may target any of the following areas.
- Technology defenses
- Human defenses
- Physical defenses
Who needs it?
Nowadays, every size of business can be a target for cyber-attacks, and different compliance frameworks may include penetration testing recommendations in order to test security posture as a result. Those organizations that have a mature information security program and also an associated Secure Information Center (SOC) processes that they would like to assess, such organizations can benefit from the Red Team exercise.
It is worth noting that Red Teaming can be costly because of the depth of testing involved. The importance and value of Red Teaming to an organization may also depend on the value of your data or the intellectual property and the nature of your business. It is quite natural that this may be easier to justify for the larger organizations.
Conclusion
Red Team testing can no doubt be a powerful tool that helps you assess the organization's ability to detect, respond, and prevent any targeted and sophisticated threats. It also identifies and qualifies any gaps that may exist in security defenses and inform about future processes. It is helpful to define a baseline of security that can be reassessed and re-evaluated regularly. In this growing cyber security threat landscape, Red Team testing helps you to identify risks and susceptibility of attacks against your business information assets.