What is the right mindset for Red Teaming?#

In recent years, “red teaming” has become a popular approach for organizations to test their security. A red team is a group of security experts who simulate an attack on an organization’s systems in order to find weaknesses and vulnerabilities. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to red teaming, there are certain best practices that can help your organization be successful at employing the right mindset.

General Advice#

  1. Be patient – The process of penetrating an organization’s defenses can be time-consuming. It is important to be patient and take your time in order to be successful.

  2. Be persistent – Don’t give up if you are not successful at first. Try again and again until you are able to penetrate the organization’s defenses.

  3. Be creative – Don’t always use the same techniques. Be creative and come up with new ways to penetrate the organization’s defenses.

  4. Be professional – Aiming to embarrass people is not productive and will only serve to hinder your ability to help them. Remember that your goal should be to be of service.

Think like the enemy by playing Devil’s Advocate#

The Red Team’s goal can be to provoke debate or test the strength of the security defense arguments. This is called playing Devil’s Advocate. It’s useful because it helps people understand the arguments for and against what they believe.

However, overly focusing on criticism can lead to confusion. Thus, the goal of Red Team communication should be to help people understand the scope of their own arguments as well as those of others. We recommend that you always employ a positive communication style and avoid behaving in ways that may appear like a personal attack.

Discover new ideas using Starbursting#

Starbursting is a technique for brainstorming that helps you focus on generating questions rather than answers. This can be a valuable tool for sparking creativity and coming up with new ideas. Starbursting is a great way to get the juices flowing, and can help you to explore different possibilities and perspectives.

It’s very simple to do:

Step 1: Write the keywords “WHO”, “WHAT”, “WHEN”, “WHERE”, “WHY”, and “HOW” on a whiteboard or in a notepad.

Step 2: Generate questions that commence with each keyword. Aim to invent at least 10 questions per keyword.

Step 3: Generate ideas with the questions that were developed.

Red Teaming can be improved through the use of Starbursting. This involves bringing in different types of stakeholders and people with diverse backgrounds to develop possible attack scenarios. By doing this, we can ensure that all potential angles are considered and that defenses are as robust as possible.

Pledge to master the art of professional communication#

The ability to communicate effectively is critical for cyber red teaming. Red teamers need to be able to quickly share information with one another and with their clients. They also need to be able to effectively communicate the results of their assessments to those who need to take action.

Communication can be a challenge in a red teaming environment. Red teamers often work in geographically dispersed locations, which can lead to confusion and missed information. In addition, the nature of the work can be secretive, which can lead to misunderstandings.

The key to overcoming these challenges is effective communication planning. Red teamers need to create a communication plan that lays out how they will share information with one another and with key stakeholders.

Examples of what a communication plan may include:

  • CONOP Presentations

  • Mission Briefings

  • Action Plans

  • Daily Reports

  • Vulnerability Reports

  • Memos

  • Training Plans

  • Risk Mitigation Plans

  • Remediation Plans

    • Feasibility Studies

    • Strategic Fit Analysis

    • Cost vs. Benefit Analysis

  • Live-fire demonstrations

Conclusion#

In order to be successful at red teaming, you need to have the right mindset and approach. Be creative and think outside the box, challenge assumptions, and be willing to take risks. Be prepared to face resistance and criticism, but stay focused on your goals. And most importantly, always maintain a sense of humor and keep things in perspective.

See also

Looking to expand your knowledge of red teaming? Check out our online course, MRT - Certified Red Teamer In this course, you’ll learn about the different aspects of red teaming and how to put them into practice.