Red teaming: that is, being on the side of the bad guys to the point of forgetting to be part of the good guys. This peculiar cybersecurity activity has become an integral part of any cyber risk assessment process, so much so that it is now common usage to speak of red teaming assessment and red teaming penetration almost as synonyms for the more famous vulnerability assessment and penetration testing. These are actually different concepts. This article is precisely intended to provide clarity, as through our platform we offer a comprehensive catalog of cybersecurity services.
Red teaming: different and complementary to penetration testing
Red teaming, in a nutshell, means targeting a computer system and, just like cyber criminals, using any expedient to succeed in taking possession or compromising it. In the case of red teaming penetration, the objective is to successfully carry out a predefined cyber attack, just as a black hat hacker would do. The approach is more direct and aggressive-if you will- than penetration testing, which instead aims to detect a set of vulnerabilities through vulnerability assessment and then specifically try to exploit those.
An organic activity
It follows that red teaming, as opposed to penetration testing, is a much more organic activity that often involves multiple vulnerabilities and that allows for an even more realistic picture of a company’s level of protection. Thus, a company may look quite protected against a penetration test, but vulnerable to red teaming.
For those unfamiliar with the subject, at this point a common question arises: what is preferred between vulnerability assessment, penetration testing and red teaming?
In the shoes of the bad guys
Here at UNGUESS we are also cost-conscious, and we know that an answer such as, “No preferences should be made” might seem a bit too diplomatic and commercial. But the truth is, in this case more than ever, we are dealing with three activities fully complementary to one another.
- The vulnerability assessment detects a wide range of exploitable vulnerabilities.
- The penetration test attempts to exploit these vulnerabilities, one after another, to see under what conditions they may offer an opening.
- The red teaming plans an attack strategy involving what was previously discovered, playing all the cards to hit the target.
Valuable safety information
For this reason, red teaming provides different information than the two more common colleagues. Specifically, red teaming assessment and red teaming penetration show how and when a protection system reacts in the event the attack is detected. Or, conversely, if it is not detected they show what combination of vulnerabilities and exploits give cyber criminals access to the system. With a football metaphor, we could say that vulnerability assessment and penetration testing are diligent midfielders who think about following the coach’s directives without dribbling. Red teaming, on the other hand, is the talented player capable of breaking up the opponent’s play and getting to the goal.
Specialized figures are needed
While vulnerability assessment and penetration testing are already very complex activities, requiring specialized figures and skills, red teaming raises the bar even higher. Not just because it is necessary to develop an attack strategy that shows familiarity with the modus operandi of cyber criminals, but also because red teaming employs teams of different specialists, each dedicated to specific tasks, just as is the case in a gang of cyber criminals.
A platform for red teaming
At UNGUESS, we know how important it is for a company to be able to rely on red teaming, but also how difficult it is to find ethical hackers to take care of it. That is why we have created our platform, where a company can initiate an assessment campaign based on its needs, drawing from a growing community of hundreds of certified ethical hackers with varied and recognized skills. This way, whether it is vulnerability assessment, penetration testing or red teaming, the company knows it can count on reliable results, that can be used to build or update its protection technologies.