The cybersecurity landscape was extremely volatile last year. Experts expect the trend to continue in 2022, with cybercriminals becoming more smart and sophisticated. Organizations are taking security more seriously and implementing relevant best practices to fortify their defenses.
Companies are adopting industry-standard best practices, including Red Teaming. Red Teaming is a crucial assessment used to test security frameworks to ensure efficiency and reliability. Any company that wants to get ready for the unknown, needs Red Teaming as an integral part of its security policies.
What is Red Teaming?
Red Teaming is a comprehensive, multi-layered simulated attack aimed at testing the security framework of an organization. The primary purpose is to rate the response of an organization’s software, people, and physical security architecture to a real-life attack from an enemy. It is conducted by an independent party (Red Team) that leverages relevant tools to spot and exploit vulnerabilities in a company’s infrastructure: software, hardware, physical structures, and humans.
Trained professionals adopt an adversarial position to test policies, systems, and plans of their target. Organizations do this to understand the robustness of their strategy and to identify and plug security loopholes. On the other hand, there is a Blue Team. A Blue Team represents an internal security team with the responsibility to counter the actions of the Red Team. This is referred to as Red Team - Blue Team simulation.
Originally, Red Teaming was a concept used in the military to test the robustness and efficiency of strategies from an adversarial perspective. It has become a common practice in the cybersecurity space, used by both public and private institutions to reinforce their security frameworks.
Why is Red Teaming Important?
No matter how good the security policies, infrastructures (hardware & software), and staff of your organization are, you do not know their true efficiency until full-scope testing is done. A security framework that seems robust and immutable could be easy to compromise and penetrate when tested from an external position. Red Teaming helps you to know the true state of your systems when it comes to withstanding a cyber attack.
It provides a playbook for improving security. Staging a cyberattack enables you to discover vulnerabilities in your physical and digital environments. It goes beyond testing software and hardware to include assessing humans. Employees, being the weakest link, are tested to understand how good they are at warding off adversaries. This helps organizations to have a better understanding of their processes and strategies.
Red Teaming does not just find holes in your system. A good red team will take a step further to provide insights on how to improve your defense. Finally, it prepares your security team for the rainy day. The information and experience your crisis team gets during Red Teaming will be useful in responding to future attacks. In other words, it is a great way to ensure your security unit has the capacity to effectively respond to advanced cyber attacks.
Red Teaming Methodology
This refers to the industry-standard, step-by-step process that security professionals follow when executing Red Teaming. Every stage of the process is crucial and contributes to the bigger picture. That being said, the methodology involves:
1. Assessment
Assessment is done before the attack simulation. Assessing the target organization helps in ensuring an organized, multi-step strategy that is measurable. At this stage, professionals assume the position of real-life criminals and they identify entry points and weaknesses to take advantage of.
2. Setting Objectives
The insights from the assessment stage are necessary for setting the objectives of the Red Team. Depending on the type of vulnerability the team finds, goals will be set. Next, the attack simulation starts.
3. Attack Phase
After defining the scope of the exercise, the Red Team initiates the attack. Given that the crisis team is not told about the simulation, it sees the activity as malicious. Consequently, it takes the necessary steps to contain the attack.
4. Reporting
At the end of the exercise, both teams provide a report containing key information about the entire procedure. The crisis team will record signs that point to compromises in the system (Indicators of Compromise), while the Red Team provides a record of its techniques, procedures, and tactics.
5. Formulation of Solution
A good Red Teaming helps you to formulate a remediation process. With the results from stage four above, necessary steps to reinforce security are taken - like updating security software and reviewing faulty policies. The goal at this stage is to improve security and the ability of the response team to ward off attacks efficiently.
The Benefits of Working with the Red Team at WebSec
WebSec is a leading cybersecurity company that provides superior information security services by delivering high-quality work at great rates. With us, you can be sure of robust security solutions, including Red Teaming. We provide Red Teaming services you can leverage to test the integrity of your systems.
We map everything out during the procedure, revealing what works and where extra attention is necessary. Here at WebSec, we help you avoid unnecessary expenses by separating software, hardware, or strategies that work from the ones that need to be upgraded or changed. We deploy industry-leading attack methods - pen testing, social engineering - to exploit vulnerabilities in your employees, digital, and physical infrastructure.
One thing that makes us stand out - we have a team of creative experts that provide tailor-made solutions. No matter the size of your company, we are excited to institute a tailor-made strategy after a thorough assessment. The comprehensive report we provide at the end of the process will help you stay more than a thousand steps ahead of cybercriminals.
You can find more information about our Red Teaming services here.
Conclusion
Do you think your organization is too small for Red Teaming? That is a common misconception. No matter how small your company is, it is a potential cyberattack target. Taking no proactive security measures to protect your assets leaves your company vulnerable. Consequently, we recommend Red Teaming to all organizations. At WebSec, we offer a custom Red Teaming solution that suits your needs. Contact us to learn more about our security services.