Red Teaming Services | Cyber Security Services

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Red Teaming Services

Red Team engagements are an advanced type of Penetration Testing (also known as PEN Testing) within cyber security that simulates a real-world attack to access sensitive data or systems.

While the aim of most Penetration Tests is to identify vulnerabilities within your environment, Red Team engagements are goal-oriented and aim to demonstrate the realistic threats and risks against your technology, people, and physical environment.

Our expert PEN testing team will use additional techniques such as social engineering, enhanced reconnaissance, and threat intelligence to achieve their goal – putting your cyber security to the test.

Our Customers

What is Red Teaming?

Advanced Penetration Testing

Red Teaming is an advanced form of Penetration Testing that simulates real-world cyber attacks to test how well your organisation can detect and respond to threats.

Unlike traditional Pen Tests that focus on identifying vulnerabilities, Red Team engagements are goal-driven and assess the resilience of your people, processes, and technology using techniques like social engineering, threat intelligence, and deep reconnaissance.

What is Our Red Teaming Process?

Step-by-Step Breakdown of Our Red Teaming Approach

1. Reconnaissance & Target Identification

Gather intelligence on the target organization, infrastructure, employees, and security posture.
Use OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence), social engineering, and passive network scanning to identify potential attack vectors.
Identify high-value targets (HVTs), key personnel, exposed services, and weak points.

2. Weaponization & Infrastructure Setup

Develop tailored payloads, exploits, and attack vectors based on gathered intelligence.
Set up Command and Control (C2) infrastructure for post-exploitation activities.
Craft phishing emails, malicious documents, or pretexting scenarios for social engineering.

3. Delivery & Initial Compromise

Execute the attack by delivering payloads via phishing, USB drops, malicious web applications, or exploiting known vulnerabilities.
Bypass security controls such as email filtering, endpoint protection, and network monitoring.
Establish an initial foothold within the target environment.

4. Privilege Escalation & Lateral Movement

Escalate privileges from the initial compromised host (e.g., bypassing UAC, exploiting misconfigurations, or credential dumping).
Move laterally within the network using pass-the-hash, Kerberoasting, or pivoting techniques.
Identify and escalate to domain admin or high-value assets.

5. Command & Control (C2)

Maintain access via backdoors, persistence techniques (scheduled tasks, WMI, registry modifications, etc.).
Use custom C2 channels (HTTP, DNS tunneling, encrypted traffic) to avoid detection.
Conduct stealthy operations to evade endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions.

6. Actions on Objectives

Achieve mission goals – e.g., data exfiltration, unauthorized system access, or disrupting critical operations.
Access sensitive files, financial data, customer records, or operational systems.
Simulate real-world attacker motivations (financial gain, espionage, sabotage, etc.).

7. Persistence & Egress

Maintain stealthy access for long-term presence, mimicking advanced persistent threats (APT).
Use covert exfiltration techniques (steganography, encrypted channels, cloud storage, or DNS tunneling).
Securely exit without leaving forensic artifacts, covering tracks to challenge blue team detection.

8. Reporting & Debrief

Provide a detailed report outlining findings, attack paths, detection gaps, and security recommendations.
Conduct a purple team session, allowing defenders to learn from real-world attack scenarios.
Deliver actionable insights to enhance incident response, threat detection, and security resilience.

Why Choose CyberLab?

Thousands of organisations across the UK trust us, here’s why…

Protecting Local Government with Expert Penetration Testing

“We needed to find a way to meet very tight budget constraints. Of the suppliers we spoke to, only CyberLab demonstrated what we felt was a genuine desire to engage with us to reach a workable solution for both parties. I’d recommend CyberLab not just for their expertise in the whole cyber security area, but for their personalised and professional approach.”

– Mark Smith, Server Support Manager, Nottingham City Council

CREST, CHECK & Cyber Scheme Certified

All our penetration testers hold CREST accreditation, with senior consultants certified to advanced CREST levels. Our testers are also qualified as CHECK Team Leaders (CTLs) or Team Members (CTMs) under the Government-backed National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) scheme.

Security testers who pass the Cyber Scheme exams demonstrate competence and skill recognised at the highest levels by the NCSC.

Our team has decades of combined experience and takes pride in operating at the highest level of the industry – conducting a broad range of government and commercial tests – and always aims to go the extra mile.

Types of Penetration Testing

Our team of experts have extensive experience in penetration testing a range of systems and applications.
These can be built into your testing plan at the scoping stage.

Red Teaming vs Penetration Testing

Key Differences Between Red Teaming and Penetration Testing

Red Teaming
Objective - Simulate a real-world, targeted attack to test an organisation’s detection and response capabilities.
Approach - Covert and goal-oriented, mimicking advanced persistent threats (APTs).
Scope - Broad: covers people, processes, and technology (e.g., phishing, physical intrusion, network attacks).
Attack Simulation - Focuses on stealth over depth; emulates real adversarial behaviour to avoid detection.
Defensive Awareness - Blue team is unaware (unless purple teaming); tests real-world detection and response.
Duration - Long-term (weeks to months).
Outcome - Post-engagement report showing how red team compromised assets and how the blue team responded.
Compliance - Not compliance-driven; focused on assessing real-world resilience.

Penetration Testing
Objective - Identify and exploit vulnerabilities in a defined scope to assess security weaknesses.
Approach - Typically overt; the organisation is aware of the test and it follows a structured, checklist-based approach.
Scope - Predefined and limited to specific assets (e.g., web apps, networks, APIs, cloud).
Attack Simulation - Focuses on depth over stealth; targets in-scope systems for vulnerabilities.
Defensive Awareness - Blue team is usually aware and may assist in testing and validation.
Duration - Short-term (days to weeks).
Outcome - Detailed report of vulnerabilities, exploitability, and remediation recommendations.
Compliance - Often driven by regulatory or compliance needs (e.g., PCI DSS, ISO 27001, CHECK).

Red Teaming vs Penetration Testing

Red Team
We test systems simultaniously
We work to fluid, adaptable targets
Longer testing schedule
We don't tell your people what we're doing
Our testers will be creative and use any means necessary

Pen Test
We test systems independently
We define our targets before we start
Short term tests
Your people know what we're testing and when
Our testers use a suite of commercially available testing tools

Speak With an Expert

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Whether you’re looking to implement basic cyber security best practice, improve your existing defences, or introduce a new system or solution, our team of expert consultants, engineers, and ethical hackers are here to help.

Our team specialise in creating bespoke security solutions and testing packages to improve and maintain your security posture.

We are 100% vendor agnostic and will only ever recommend the best products and solutions for your requirements.

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Red Teaming Services | Cyber Security Services

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