Red Team Operations

Elite Pentesting for the Most Advanced Defenses

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How Can a Red Team Operation Help Your Cybersecurity?

Organizations that have run their share of penetration tests and hardened their security may be looking for a way to up the ante and put their improved defenses to the test. 

That’s where Red Team testing can help.

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What Is Red Team Testing?

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cybersecurity-product-claims-testing-mitnick-security

What Is Red Team Testing?

Named after Red Team military simulations and war games, Red Team operations/testing are more advanced pentests. During Red Team operations, an experienced team of ethical hackers (The Red Team) attacks the security controls of a target acting in defense (The Blue Team).

The difference between Red Teaming and penetration testing is this: the goal of a traditional pentest is to find as many security gaps as possible, exploit them, and access each vulnerability’s risk level. Red Team testers look to find just one way in. During the test, Red Teamers will test the security defenses the organization has implemented by:

  • Meeting the goals established before the test
  • Uncovering the most sensitive data they can access
  • (If agreed upon during the rules of engagement) exfiltrating that data

Is Your Company a Good Fit for Red Team Testing?

When comparing Red Team vs. penetration testing, companies that have only ever conducted routine vulnerability assessments are best off conducting a few focused penetration tests and hardening their security before considering a Red Team operation.

The Red Team methodology is a good fit for companies that are confident in the cybersecurity defenses they’ve built and want to put them to the test.

How Red Team Operations Work With Mitnick Security Consulting

Step 1: Kick-Off & Rules of Engagement

Each Red Team engagement begins with a kick-off call where we’ll discuss the data you’d consider your company’s most coveted assets that our Red Team will try to exfiltrate. 

The kick-off call is also where we’ll establish the rules of engagement, define what would be considered “disruptive” to you, and address how we’ll ensure no/minimal disruptions to your network during our attack. This typically means explicitly avoiding specific attacks, such as DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks.

Step 2: Red Team Deployment

With a designated start date agreed upon, we’ll begin our test. 

Our skilled Red Team will divide into mini attack teams, each targeting a different area of your business— from one team for internal networks to another for wireless vulnerabilities, etc. It’s this holistic, no holds barred approach that allows us to work in synchronicity, attacking all angles of your security infrastructure.

Step 3: Reviewing Your Red Team Pentest Results

After our Red Team engagement, we’ll compile what we’re proud to call the industry’s gold standard of pentest reports and walk through the test with your team.

This comprehensive document is designed to help you easily understand what our team did, what we discovered, and what we gained access to. 

Most importantly, we’ll provide you with mitigation strategies, straight from our team of cybersecurity and pentesting experts — The Global Ghost Team™.

How Long Will the Red Teaming Engagement Last?

You may be used to traditional penetration tests lasting about a week. Red Team testing is much more in-depth, with the typical Red Team operation extending from three weeks to a month and beyond — sometimes even longer, depending on your company size and systems’ complexity.

During the Attack

Our team will be available 24/7 on a dedicated channel created just for your team. This important line of communication will help confirm which detected actions are not the work of a real threat actor so you can react accordingly.

Although you won’t be informed when we breach your security and gain access to the target data — just like with a real attack — we notify you immediately if we find any critical vulnerabilities and when the test is wrapping up. 

We also note any changes we’ve made to the environment (such as account creation or modification) and inform your primary point of contact at the end of the testing phase so those changes can be promptly removed.

Ready to turn your defenses into a fortress designed to protect against the most advanced cyber attacks?

Complete the form on this page to get started.