Red teaming, also known as ethical hacking, is the practice of requesting a group to play the role of hackers and launch a multilayered cyberattack on an organization. The red team will disrupt service, install malware or access sensitive data within the system network. The practice determines how well network, software and physical security defenses will hold up during a simulated attack and pinpoint where the vulnerabilities are within the system.
This concept of understanding potential weaknesses and how to defend against them began with 19th-century German military practices and continues to be relevant to today’s cybersecurity risks. Some organizations will also have a blue team to resist and respond to the red team’s attack. Since cybercriminals can quickly adapt to new defenses against hacking, it’s common for red teaming exercises to occur at regular intervals.
An online Master of Science (M.S.) in Cybersecurity from Northern Kentucky University can help students gain the knowledge and expertise to protect computer systems and important data from cyberattacks and data breach incidents.
How Red Teaming Can Help a Business Respond to Cybersecurity Threats
The process of red teaming is essential to recognize and resolve any security flaws before a hacker can take advantage of them. While having the mentality of cyber hackers, red teams can find weaknesses in software, networks, applications and systems by using social engineering, scoping exercises, penetration testing, phishing, card cloning and intercepting communication tools.
Red teaming exercises are typically geared toward an organization’s unique threats and the credibility of its cybersecurity resilience. Understanding the organization’s business objectives and security concerns can help the red team pinpoint any flaws or weaknesses successfully. They examine operating systems, networking equipment and sometimes offices’ physical security, including cameras, door locks and security employees. If a blue team is involved, they monitor the incident and guide the IT team’s response to the attack. To prepare, they identify data and information that must be protected and establish security measures to safeguard the specifics.
When red and blue teams face off and attempt to cyberattack and protect valuable information, it’s known as purple teaming. This process can help organizations plan a real-time response program and protect against data breach incidents. By testing security and measuring effectiveness, red teaming not only points out security deficiencies but can also strengthen the organization’s security. Since cyber attackers are becoming more sophisticated and can penetrate a network and remain undetected for some time, red teaming can recognize and intercept a cyberattack before data is compromised.
Managing the risk of cyberattacks with a comprehensive approach benefits an organization with objective insights about their network and physical security. The purpose is not to simply point out what is wrong but to address, improve and fix any security weakness so a business can respond and not simply react to an attack. Understanding how vulnerabilities were found, and how they were strengthened, provides insights about how to protect against more complex vulnerabilities. When an organization is transparent with the red teaming results, it can cultivate a more secure culture among every employee.
Next Steps
If you’re interested in protecting the digital world from cybercriminals, an online M.S. in Cybersecurity can help. The online program provides hands-on experience and knowledge in data privacy, incident response, cloud computing and security, risk assessment and testing, security architecture and more. The Ethical Hacking course enables students to gather information and use the tools to perform penetration testing and vulnerability assessments, as well as identify the phases of cyberattacks and the different techniques used for hacking servers, systems, networks and applications.
Learn more about Northern Kentucky University’s online Master of Science in Cybersecurity program.
