Both Red Teaming and Penetration Testing are forms of security assessment and evaluation. The objective of these assessments is to determine the extent to which assets and procedures of an organization defend against cyberattacks. These assessments vary in numerous respects. Understanding Red Teaming vs Penetration Testing helps businesses choose the right approach for their security goals.
What is a Penetration Test?
Pentesting or Penetration Testing is an attack on a target asset with a goal of answering the question “to what extent can an attacker successfully compromise an asset or inventory, with the means and methods available to them?” Penetration Testing can be thought of as the partner engagement to a Red Team exercise. In a Red Team exercise, the threat model emulates the intentions of an attacker. The partner Pen Test would enumerate how an attacker can accomplish that goal.
What is Red Teaming?
A Red Team exercise is a broad attack emulation that incorporates multiple attack vectors. In a Red Team exercise, the attack surface is typically broad. The attack scenario is focused on achieving end goals.
Generally, end goals need to be approved by the organization being assessed. The end goals may include, but are not limited to, theft or disruption of sensitive business information, theft of intellectual property, or disruption of day-to-day business operations.
To achieve these goals, an attacker could access and/or alter sensitive data, gain control of a critical system, or determine the capability of the defending organization to identify and stop an attack.
Examples of actions in a red team exercise include:
- Weaponizing and/or exploiting security and/or application flaws
- Bypassing/removing security controls
- Testing site and/or system security
- Evaluating the defending organization's capability to identify and/or stop an attack
- Determining the defending organization's capability to identify and/or respond to an attack
The above exercises are useful for determining an organization's capability to respond, detect, and/or prevent a real-world threat.
Red Teaming vs Penetration Testing - Key Differences
While both security tests are sanctioned by the organization, the focus and breadth of the tests vary.
Depending on the objectives of the exercise, the test may assess an organization's resilience to real-world attacks.
Red Teaming vs Penetration Testing:
Red Teaming vs Penetration Testing - Can assessment methods be combined?
These approaches can be blended. For a more effective risk management system, both assessments can be implemented as part of a security program. To blend both assessment approaches, first, all the open security gaps can be closed with the help of penetration testing.
Next, safety controls can be evaluated and examined to determine if critical gaps have been closed. Finally, an attack threat scenario can be simulated. The threat scenario can examine the extent to which the attacker can succeed in achieving their objective in view of the organization’s existing defensive measures.
The threat simulation can help to identify the gaps in the security controls and assist in developing improvement plans. It is important to note that both assessment approaches should be aligned to the organization’s risk exposure and thresholds, legal and regulatory obligations, and the changing organization’s infrastructure.
Understanding When to Use Each Method
When talking about the world of security, the maturity of your organization plays a role in deciding between red teaming and penetration testing. Penetration testing focuses on evaluating the efficacy of your organization’s safeguards by attempting to breach your systems.
Red teaming focuses more on determining your organization’s ability to identify and defend against an attack. There are a few things to review when determining if you should consider Red Teaming vs Penetration Testing.
Are your business systems ready to defend against an attack? Have you established sufficient security to protect your organization? What are your business goals? Are there adequate resources for the level of testing you require? What type of reports do you require? Are you looking for a traditional vulnerability report, or do you need an assessment to validate your organization’s readiness to defend against an attack?
Define the borders of your testing. This will help your organization gain actionable information and not compile a lengthy, unsophisticated report of security defenses. Red teaming and penetration testing help an organization assess their defense mechanisms. Both forms of testing assist and augment an organization’s security practices.
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