The Edgescan Red Team testing methodology follows a structured approach based on industry frameworks such as TIBER-EU, MITRE ATT&CK, CREST and OWASP guidelines.
Version Number: v1.0.0
Published Date: 27 March 2025
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Red Team Testing Methodology and Approach
Red Team testing is an advanced cybersecurity exercise that simulates real-world cyber threats to evaluate an organization's security posture. Unlike traditional security assessments, Red Team operations adopt an adversarial approach, mimicking sophisticated threat actors to identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses in security controls, processes, and personnel.
Objectives
- Assess Security Controls: Evaluate the effectiveness of technical security controls, such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and endpoint protection solutions.
- Test Incident Response Capabilities: Examine the organization's ability to detect, respond, and mitigate attacks in real-time.
- Identify and Exploit Weaknesses: Discover security gaps in systems, applications, and human elements that may be exploited by malicious actors.
- Improve Organizational Resilience: Provide actionable insights to strengthen defenses and improve security awareness.
- Validate Risk Assumptions: Ensure that security risks are well understood and mitigation measures are effective.
Methodology & Approach
The Red Team testing methodology follows a structured approach based on industry frameworks such as TIBER-EU, MITRE ATT&CK, CREST and OWASP guidelines. The methodology typically consists of the following phases:
- Planning and Reconnaissance
- Define Scope: Establish rules of engagement, including target systems, acceptable techniques, and objectives, including assumed personas or breaches.
- Threat Intelligence Gathering: Collect open-source intelligence (OSINT) on the organization, including employee data, infrastructure details, and potential attack vectors.
- Identify Attack Surface: Map out network architecture, external assets, and third-party integrations to determine entry points.
- Initial Access and Exploitation
- Phishing Attacks: Deploy spear-phishing campaigns to trick employees into revealing credentials or executing malicious payloads.
- Social Engineering: Utilize pretexting, impersonation, or physical intrusion techniques to gain unauthorized access.
- Web and Network Exploitation: Exploit vulnerabilities in web applications, misconfigured services, or exposed APIs.
- Establishing Persistence
- Privilege Escalation: Identify weaknesses that allow privilege escalation to obtain administrative control over systems.
- Deploying Backdoors: Install persistent access mechanisms, such as rootkits, remote access Trojans (RATs), or scheduled tasks.
- Lateral Movement: Pivot within the internal network by exploiting misconfigured permissions, weak credentials, or unpatched systems.
- Objective Execution
- Data Exfiltration: Simulate data theft by extracting sensitive information while evading detection mechanisms.
- Impact Testing: Conduct simulated ransomware, denial-of-service (DoS), or supply chain attacks to assess business continuity resilience.
- Privilege Abuse: Demonstrate potential damage caused by exploiting insider threats or compromised administrative accounts.
- Detection and Response Evaluation
- Measure Security Controls’ Effectiveness: Analyze how well security monitoring tools (SIEMs, IDS/IPS) detect Red Team activities.
- Assess Incident Response Time: Evaluate how quickly security teams identify, analyze, and contain simulated attacks.
- Test Incident Handling Procedures: Ensure security teams follow established response protocols and escalation procedures.
- Reporting and Remediation
- Comprehensive Documentation: Provide a detailed report outlining attack vectors, exploited vulnerabilities, and security gaps.
- Risk Assessment and Prioritization: Rank vulnerabilities based on potential impact and likelihood of exploitation.
- Recommendations and Mitigations: Offer strategic and tactical remediation steps to address identified weaknesses.
- Debriefing and Knowledge Sharing: Conduct workshops and training sessions with Blue Teams to enhance detection and response capabilities.
Red Team Tools & Techniques
Red Team engagements utilize a variety of tools and techniques to conduct assessments effectively. These include some of the below as examples:
Reconnaissance Tools
- OSINT Tools: Maltego, Shodan, theHarvester, Recon-ng
- Network Mapping: Nmap, Masscan, Netdiscover
- Email and Credential Harvesting: Hunter.io, HaveIBeenPwned
Exploitation and Post-Exploitation Tools
- Penetration Testing Frameworks: Metasploit, Cobalt Strike, Empire
- Password Attacks: Hashcat, Hydra, John the Ripper
- Lateral Movement: BloodHound, Mimikatz, CrackMapExec
Persistence and Evasion Techniques
- Web Shells: China Chopper, Weevely, Nishang
- Stealth Techniques: Process injection, rootkits, DLL sideloading
- C2 Frameworks: Sliver, Covenant, PoshC2
Red Team vs. Blue Team Collaboration
While Red Team testing focuses on simulating attacks, collaboration with the Blue Team (defensive security team) is crucial for improving overall security resilience. Effective Red Team-Blue Team collaboration includes:
- Purple Teaming Exercises: Conduct joint simulations where Red and Blue Teams share insights and improve defensive strategies.
- Tabletop Exercises: Simulate attack scenarios in a controlled environment to test response protocols.
- Continuous Feedback Loop: Provide iterative testing and security improvements based on engagement findings.