Offensive security is a proactive approach in cybersecurity where, rather than waiting for an attack to happen, the offensive security personnel start one. This is one of the best ways to find and squeeze out system vulnerabilities. Unlike blue teaming, where the main purpose is to monitor and defend against attacks. In a company, Red teamers and Blue teamers work together in exercises and practices where Red teamers simulate an attack, and Blue teamers try and defend it. When this happens again and again, the Red teamers are able to squeeze out even the smallest weaknesses in the system, which later helps when that application, network, or website is put to work.
Social Engineering
Offensive security is not limited to just finding vulnerabilities in the abstract world of computers. In a company, red teamers also often try to find physical exploits like passwords written on notes, or manipulating people into providing them with key access. But keep in mind that this is done with consent and orders from the hierarchy of the company.
Difference between Hacking and Ethical Hacking
The basic difference between hacking and ethical hacking is the word "consent." When you ethically hack a system, you usually have permission from its admins. But real hacking is when you hack without consent and permission and with a malice intent. The proper contract between a red teamer and such a company is called an "Exchange," within the corporate dynamics.
Exploit Development
Exploit development is also a huge part of red teaming. Exploits are a huge part of red teaming. Writing custom payloads to manipulate systems, networks and brute forcing vulnerabilities. This in itself is the true essence of Red Teaming.
Corporate Importance
In the corporate world of tech, mass producing AI agents, software, websites, and much more, security has become a huge concern. Red teamers, during the development of the things mentioned above, assist the developers in finding vulnerabilities. From development to deployment, they keep on testing more and more vulnerabilities.
What are vulnerabilities?
These are the weaknesses that are present within a system. Consider a tube cylinder. Now perforate the tube. These holes in that tube can translate into vulnerabilities in a website, software, or network. These exact holes are the holes we exploit and are the exact holes that blue teamers defend from.
AI Red Teaming
In AI red teaming, the main purpose is to assess security and ensure that AI bots are not prompted to perform tasks that are not allowed. In a way, this compromises the security of the AI company the bots are from. Imagine someone getting access to the data by confusing an AI agent into giving that person access. This field, however, is a very new field and is constantly evolving. This will keep on evolving along with the evolution of AI.
Cloud Security
In cloud security, as businesses bring their data to save it on cloud storages, websites that shift their hosting to cloud vendors like AWS and Microsoft Azure, we are also shifting and expanding cybersecurity into the cloud. I mean, isn't it obvious? If businesses shift their data to the cloud, hackers, agencies, and groups with malicious intent will also set their eyes on them. So Cloud Security is also starting to trend; individuals who understand cloud infrastructure the best are the best for this job. With red teaming, the aim changes slightly, and the main purpose is again the offensive security of these cloud systems.
Fast Evolution
As a job, it has strong salaries and job scope, but this field changes so fast. You might sleep one night, and in the morning you would find out that a whole new attack surface has appeared with its own techniques. But the red team professionals are very adaptive to these new environments. There is a famous saying in the world of cybersecurity: if you sit on your laurels and do not keep on learning, your skills will become outdated in 6 months. In Red Teaming, this is even more true; the time is way less. That is why you have to keep learning.
Careers in Red Teaming
In cybersecurity, there is currently a major lack of skilled individuals, and the need increases day by day as more and more companies convert their businesses online. Currently, almost 3.6 million cybersecurity positions are open. But this field changes fast; if you stop learning, you become the past, and when you become the past, you become irrelevant.
Famous Certifications
Offensive security is a very vast field with a variety of certifications. You see, in such practical fields, these certifications hold more value than a degree. And these certifications are very hard and very practical as well. Though some can be a bit expensive.
The Gold Standard for Offensive Security is the 24-hour gruelling exam called OSCP by Offsec. This certification is highly respected and sought after by recruiters, holding insane prestige.
Then there's PJPT by TCM Security. It is a decent entry-level certification. It still holds a lot of practical prestige, and some beginners route their OSCP through PJPT.
There are also C2 environments. Command and Control brute-forcing environments, so there is one very famous certification called CRTO by Zero-Point Security.
Conclusion
Hello, as promised, I have written a very detailed article on Red Teaming. We have explored a lot of depth in red teaming and discussed a few important certifications as well. All these certifications hold insane value but are very hard to pass. Once you do, the experience and skill you gain are completely worth it.
Whether you are already in or starting in cybersecurity, this article will help you a lot, especially in red teaming. From vulnerabilities to networks, I am trying my best to explain these to the readers.
I am Abdullah Zahid, and this was my take on red teaming, its complexities, certifications, and jobs.
Thank you for reading this article and I will see you in another article.