Red Teaming Services | Cyber Security Services
Detect.
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 Red Teaming Methodology
The way we structure our Red Team engagements aligns closely with the steps taken by bad actors to target and compromise your systems. We replicate the approach of real-world adversaries to simulate and evaluate how your systems and processes respond to a cyber attack, in order to strengthen your cyber security.
Gather intelligence on the target organisation, infrastructure, employees, and security posture.
Use OSINT, social engineering, and passive scanning to identify potential attack vectors.
Pinpoint high-value targets (HVTs), key personnel, exposed services, and weak points.
- Develop tailored payloads, exploits, and attack vectors based on intelligence gathered.
- Set up Command and Control (C2) infrastructure for post-exploitation activities.
- Craft phishing emails, malicious documents, or pretexting scenarios for social engineering.
Deliver payloads via phishing, USB drops, malicious websites, or exploiting known vulnerabilities.
Bypass security controls like email filtering, endpoint protection, and network monitoring.
Establish an initial foothold within the target environment.
Escalate privileges using techniques like UAC bypass, misconfiguration exploitation, or credential dumping.
Move laterally using methods such as pass-the-hash, Kerberoasting, or pivoting.
Target domain admin access or other high-value assets.
Maintain access using backdoors and persistence techniques (e.g. scheduled tasks, WMI, registry edits).
Employ custom C2 channels (HTTP, DNS tunnelling, encrypted traffic) to avoid detection.
Evade EDR solutions and operate stealthily.
Achieve mission goals (e.g. data exfiltration, system access, disruption of operations).
Access sensitive files, financial records, customer data, or critical systems.
Simulate realistic attacker motives such as financial gain, espionage, or sabotage.
Maintain long-term, covert access to emulate an APT.
Exfiltrate data using stealthy methods (steganography, encryption, DNS tunnelling, cloud storage).
Exit cleanly, leaving minimal forensic artefacts to challenge detection.
Provide a comprehensive report outlining findings, attack paths, detection gaps, and recommendations.
Conduct a purple team debrief to enhance defensive learning.
Deliver actionable insights to improve threat detection, incident response, and overall security resilience.
Red Teaming vs 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). |
Our Customers
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.
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.
If you like this, then take a look at…
Types of Penetration Test - What is the Difference?
Prevention v Cure: Introduction to Pen Testing
Your CREST Accredited Penetration Test Report
