What is Red Team Hacking?

Red Team Hacking is a simulated attack where individuals behave like real hackers to test the security of an organization. A Red Team is a security team whose purpose is to identify weaknesses and help improve security. They use hacker-like techniques to try to breach systems. This approach resembles Black Box Testing, but it is broader and more complex. Red Team operations often include Black Box Testing as a part of their activities.

How is it different from Penetration Testing?

Penetration Testing (Pen Testing) and Red Team Hacking are similar but differ in intent and scope.

Penetration Testing focuses on identifying vulnerabilities in a specific system and provides recommendations for fixing them.

Red Team Hacking simulates a real hacker's behavior and aims to test the entire organization's security posture. It involves various techniques and broader targets.

Penetration Testing usually targets a single system, whereas Red Teaming evaluates the security of the entire organization.

Let’s clarify this with an example:

Suppose a bank’s online banking system is being tested using Penetration Testing.

The Penetration Tester begins by identifying vulnerabilities in the bank’s website and server.

They check for SQL Injection vulnerabilities, weak encryption, and overall security configuration.

The focus is on the online systems, networks, and servers related to the online banking system.

If a vulnerability like SQL Injection is found, the tester may demonstrate data extraction such as employee usernames and passwords.

The tester then documents the findings and provides a report to the bank’s responsible personnel with recommendations.

Now that we understand Penetration Testing, let’s compare that to Red Team Hacking with the same banking system scenario.

Suppose a Red Team is tasked with testing the entire security system of a bank.

They start by gathering information about bank employees from social media.
For example: Finding names and job titles of employees on LinkedIn, collecting contact info, etc. — this is the Information Gathering phase.

Then, they look for all systems related to the bank, like its online banking app, web servers, etc., and search for weaknesses to attack. This scope is wider than Penetration Testing.

They might use the contact information to send phishing emails like: "We’re upgrading the bank’s security. Please re-enter your password."

Once an employee enters their credentials, the Red Team gains access to the bank’s systems.

They might even deceive a security guard by saying something like, "I’m from IT Support here to fix a computer issue," to physically gain access to the office. From there, they explore how far into the system they can go and report back to the bank.

Red Team Hacking tests the entire security framework of the organization, including employee behavior and physical security.

How does a Red Team operate?

Red Teams act like real hackers. Their main goal is to test the entire security setup of an organization. Their process can be broken down like this:

1. Target Selection – They focus on the organization’s whole infrastructure including computer systems, networks, employee behavior, and physical security.
2. Information Gathering – They collect as much information as possible about the target organization, such as analyzing websites, social media, and even contacting employees.
3. Simulated Attacks – They attempt to breach the system using techniques like phishing, exploiting vulnerabilities, or bypassing physical security.
4. Reporting – They compile their findings in a report explaining how they breached the system, what vulnerabilities were found, and how to fix them.

In summary, Penetration Testing focuses on identifying vulnerabilities in a single target, while Red Team Hacking tests the overall security of an organization.

With this, you should have a basic understanding of the differences between Red Teaming and Penetration Testing.

We’ll continue exploring more soon.