Open up any tech news site and there’s no shortage of high-profile hacking operations reported. Just in 2022, Google, Microsoft, and Apple devices had to patch critical zero-day vulnerabilities, which could have allowed hackers access to individual computers and cell phones.
As the business world has evolved from local computers on wired networks in secure buildings to cloud-based computing and wireless technology, it is arguable that malicious actors have had an easier time gaining access to vulnerable systems.
One of the most effective ways to improve cybersecurity in your business is to set up a red team/blue team exercise. Your IT team can help (acting as blue teams), but it’s recommended to use a professional penetration testing team to do this properly.
These providers can come into your company, improve security, and educate your team on best practices and industry standards.
What Is A Red Teaming Exercise?
The main premise of a red team assessment is that one group acts as the red team (or the ‘enemies’) and the other group acts as the blue team (the ‘friendlies’). This type of wargaming originated in the military to train soldiers for highly intense combat situations.
Your security team will gain valuable insights from a red team exercise. The red team simulates a hack on the company’s systems while the blue team defends against it.
Everyone on both teams will practice and gain a thorough understanding of cybercriminals’ methods to infiltrate organizations. With this knowledge, your team can defend against these threats should they occur for real.
What Is The Difference Between Penetration Testing And Red Teaming?
A penetration test is often just the first step of hardening security at a company but is not strictly red team operations. Basically, pen testers will examine all systems in your company and check if they are secure.
The goal is to test networks, assets, hardware, platforms, and applications. However, it’s just a vulnerability assessment, and lists cybersecurity weaknesses in order of importance/risk. Ethical hackers can physically and virtually check your IT systems’ security.
In contrast, red teaming is a focused and goal-oriented security program developed to achieve a specific goal, which is to defeat the security of the IT system where the red team exercise is being performed.
If it’s possible to defeat the security system, valuable insights will be gained through this targeted attack. The company will improve its response capabilities to real threats in the future.
It’s imperative to take a security posture of high alert whenever training IT staff in a corporation. Red teaming is an exercise done without notice, and often the blue team has no idea the system is under attack. This is what makes red team exercises so valuable, as it allows company executives to determine where the IT team can improve.
The Red Teaming Process
Red teams often start operations with penetration tests. They will simply compile a list of known hardware in a security system that can be used as access points for hackers.
Red teams will do email and phone-based social engineering. They will research the organization and identify any individuals who can be targeted with a phishing email.
This type of entry point is often the easiest way to overcome cyber security. Through a phishing attack, a backdoor program can be remotely installed that allows red teams access.
Pen testing may have identified unpatched or misconfigured network services. These security vulnerabilities can be used to gain access to the system. If left unchecked, they can provide a permanent entry point for cybercriminals looking to evade capture.
Sometimes threat intelligence is not very sophisticated and involves following someone through a door. This is one of the easiest ways to gain access to a secure facility and plant something or tamper with security controls.
Especially in facilities where workers from different companies might be present and without a security guard, people will often hold doors open for someone who doesn’t scan their badge.
