Go Beyond Conventional Penetration Testing with a Red Team Assessment

Published August 2023

Penetration testing is a crucial component of any organization’s cybersecurity strategy. The world of cybersecurity is a rapidly changing landscape, with new exploits emerging daily. Threat actors constantly discover and target vulnerabilities in various products, and it only takes one missed vulnerability to result in a costly cyberattack.

To keep up with the rapidly changing threat landscape, organizations must implement a proactive approach to cybersecurity. Unfortunately, relying solely on a yearly penetration test assessment is not enough. In today’s world, where cyber threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated and frequent, organizations must take a proactive approach to their security measures. Red teaming simulates real-world attacks to help identify vulnerabilities and security weaknesses before they can be exploited, thereby ensuring the security of an organization’s systems and data.

The Problem with Annual Penetration Testing

Annual penetration testing is often viewed as a checkbox exercise for compliance and insurance purposes. However, this approach can lead to a false sense of security because it assumes that the organization’s security posture remains unchanged for the entire year. In reality, the cybersecurity landscape is constantly evolving, and new vulnerabilities are discovered regularly.

Any new vulnerabilities that arise after the penetration test will go undetected until the following assessment, leaving the organization vulnerable to attack. There needs to be more than a yearly assessment to keep up with the ever-changing threat landscape and emerging vulnerabilities.

Furthermore, threat actors are not limited to a specific timeline. Instead, attackers often target organizations when they believe that they are most vulnerable, such as during times of high activity or significant business changes. Additionally, new software releases or updates may present an opportunity for attackers to exploit vulnerabilities that have yet to be identified or patched. By taking a proactive approach to cybersecurity, organizations can better protect themselves against the evolving threat landscape and emerging vulnerabilities, ultimately reducing the risk of a costly and damaging cyberattack.

While penetration testing can be a valuable tool in identifying security weaknesses in a system, it is essential to conduct testing on a continual basis. Therefore, various security testing methods must be considered, including continuous testing and red team assessments, to ensure comprehensive coverage and tailored security testing for an organization’s specific needs.

The Benefits of Red Team Assessments

Red team assessments provide a holistic approach to security testing beyond just the technical aspects. While traditional penetration testing focuses on finding and exploiting vulnerabilities in the technical aspects of a system or environment, red team exercises also consider the human factor and physical security measures. Red teams use a combination of technical, physical, and social engineering tactics to simulate real-world attacks, giving organizations a more comprehensive understanding of their security posture.

This approach enables organizations to identify vulnerabilities that may not have been discovered through traditional testing. By simulating real-world attacks, red teams can identify weaknesses in physical security measures, such as access control systems, video surveillance, and security personnel procedures. This is crucial because physical security breaches can have serious consequences, including theft of valuable assets, sabotage, and damage to critical infrastructure. For example, a red team may attempt to gain access to a building by tailgating behind an authorized employee or exploiting a weakness in physical security measures. By identifying these types of vulnerabilities, organizations can implement appropriate measures to address them and improve their overall security posture.

Using real-world attack scenarios helps organizations identify areas of weakness in their incident response plans and improve their ability to detect, contain, and mitigate security incidents. During a red team exercise, the team simulates real-world attack scenarios that require an organization to activate its incident response plan. This enables organizations to identify gaps or weaknesses, such as lack of communication or coordination among key personnel, unclear escalation procedures, or inadequate incident detection and response capabilities.

By identifying these gaps, organizations can improve their incident response plans, ensure that all personnel know their roles and responsibilities, and reduce the time that it takes to respond to and mitigate security incidents. Overall, red team assessments provide organizations with a valuable opportunity to test their incident response plans in a realistic and controlled environment, enabling them to better prepare for and respond to real-world security threats.

A vital benefit of red teaming is that it provides tailored testing specific to an organization’s environment or systems. This means the team can focus their efforts on areas of the organization that are most likely to be targeted by attackers, such as critical systems or high-value data stores. By tailoring the assessment to these specific areas, the red team can identify these vulnerabilities and help the organization remediate them before attackers can exploit them.

Employee Training is a Critical Step

Red team assessments can evaluate the effectiveness of security awareness training by simulating realistic attack scenarios. Most cyberattacks are initiated by exploiting human weaknesses, such as phishing attacks or social engineering. Therefore, educating employees about cyber threats and training them to identify and respond to security incidents effectively is crucial. It provides valuable insights into how well the training has prepared employees to detect and respond to real-world cyber threats.

Based on the results, organizations can identify gaps in training programs and improve their overall security posture by providing targeted and practical training to employees. In addition, by regularly testing the effectiveness of security awareness training, organizations can ensure that their employees remain vigilant and stay up to date with the latest threats, reducing the risk of successful cyberattacks.