Red teaming has emerged as the ultimate test of organizational security—moving beyond vulnerability discovery to simulate sophisticated adversaries attempting realistic objectives while defenders attempt detection and response in real-time. This adversarial approach reveals security program gaps that automated scanning and traditional penetration testing miss. This comprehensive guide explains what red teaming is, how it differs from penetration testing, red team vs blue team vs purple team roles, tactics and tools used, building red team capabilities, and leveraging red team exercises for maximum security improvement.
What is Red Teaming? Clear Definition
Red teaming is an adversarial security exercise where offensive security professionals (red team) simulate real-world cyber attacks against an organization attempting to achieve specific objectives—steal data, disrupt operations, access critical systems—while defensive teams (blue team) attempt to detect, prevent, and respond to the attacks using production security controls and incident response procedures.
Key characteristics:
- Goal-oriented: Specific objectives matching real threat scenarios
- Realistic: Use actual attacker tactics and tools
- Stealth-focused: Remain undetected testing detection capabilities
- Multi-vector: Exploit technical, physical, and social attack paths
- Time-extended: Weeks or months (not days like pen tests)
Red Team vs Blue Team vs Purple Team
| Team | Role | Goal | Tools |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Team | Offensive (Attackers) | Breach defenses undetected | Metasploit, Cobalt Strike, social engineering |
| Blue Team | Defensive (Defenders) | Detect and stop attacks | SIEM, EDR, IDS/IPS, SOC operations |
| Purple Team | Collaborative | Improve both offense and defense | Both sets + collaboration platforms |
Red Team vs Penetration Testing
| Aspect | Penetration Testing | Red Teaming |
|---|---|---|
| Objective | Find max vulnerabilities | Achieve specific goals undetected |
| Scope | Defined systems/applications | Entire organization (technical + physical + social) |
| Duration | 1-2 weeks typical | 4-8 weeks or longer |
| Awareness | IT knows testing occurring | Most staff unaware (surprise exercise) |
| Output | Vulnerability list and remediation | Security program assessment |
| Cost | $5K-50K | $30K-200K+ |
| Best For | Compliance, finding technical flaws | Testing detection/response, mature security programs |
Red Team Tactics and Methodology
Phase 1: Reconnaissance (Weeks 1-2)
OSINT gathering:
- Employee identification via LinkedIn
- Technology stack discovery
- Physical location mapping
- Email format patterns
- Public-facing services enumeration
Phase 2: Initial Access (Week 3)
Common techniques:
- Phishing: Targeted emails to specific employees
- Physical access: Tailgating, badge cloning
- Exploitation: Vulnerable internet-facing systems
- Password spraying: Common passwords against many accounts
Phase 3: Persistence (Week 3-4)
- Establish multiple access methods
- Create backdoor accounts
- Deploy web shells or C2 beacons
- Compromise additional credentials
Phase 4: Privilege Escalation (Week 4-5)
- Local admin to domain admin
- Kerberoasting attacks
- Pass-the-hash techniques
- Credential dumping from memory
Phase 5: Lateral Movement (Week 5-7)
- Move to critical systems
- Access sensitive data repositories
- Compromise additional networks segments
- Map environment comprehensively
Phase 6: Objective Achievement (Week 7-8)
- Exfiltrate target data
- Demonstrate access to critical systems
- Document achieved objectives
- Capture evidence for report
Red Team Tools
Command & Control (C2)
- Cobalt Strike: Commercial C2 platform (industry standard)
- Metasploit: Open-source exploitation framework
- Empire: PowerShell and Python post-exploitation
- Covenant: .NET C2 framework
Credential Harvesting
- Mimikatz: Extract credentials from memory
- Rubeus: Kerberos exploitation
- LaZagne: Credential recovery from applications
Social Engineering
- Gophish: Phishing campaign management
- SET (Social Engineer Toolkit): Phishing and exploitation
- Evilginx2: Phishing with MFA bypass
Blue Team: The Defenders
Blue Team Responsibilities
- Continuous monitoring: SIEM, EDR, network sensors
- Alert investigation: Triage and analyze security alerts
- Threat hunting: Proactive search for hidden threats
- Incident response: Contain and remediate confirmed incidents
- Security hardening: Implement and maintain defenses
Blue Team Tools
- SIEM: Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, IBM QRadar
- EDR: CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Microsoft Defender
- Network Detection: Zeek, Suricata, Snort
- Forensics: Volatility, Autopsy, FTK
Purple Team: Collaborative Security
Purple Team Philosophy
Rather than adversarial red vs blue, purple team combines both for rapid improvement:
- Red team demonstrates attack technique
- Blue team attempts detection
- Immediate feedback and adjustment
- Iterate until detection successful
- Document improved detection logic
Benefits of Purple Team Approach
- Faster security improvement than adversarial testing
- Knowledge transfer from red to blue
- Validates detection rules immediately
- Builds collaboration between teams
- More cost-effective than pure red team
Conclusion
Red teaming represents the pinnacle of security validation—testing not just vulnerabilities but the entire security program's ability to detect and respond to sophisticated threats. Organizations reaching red team maturity demonstrate security programs capable of defending against advanced persistent threats.
subrosa provides comprehensive red team services simulating advanced persistent threats and testing organizational defenses, purple team exercises combining offensive and defensive teams for rapid improvement, security program assessments determining red team readiness, and blue team consulting improving detection and response capabilities. Schedule a consultation to discuss red team services.