What is red teaming?
Red teaming is goal-oriented adversary simulation. We pick an objective, like stealing customer data or deploying ransomware, and we go after it using whatever works. Phishing, network exploitation, walking into your building, calling reception with a convincing story. If a real attacker would do it, it’s on the table.
A pentest finds vulnerabilities in a defined scope. A red team answers a harder question: can your organisation actually stop someone who’s trying?
What it covers
Engagements are built around realistic objectives drawn from your actual threat model. A campaign might target data exfiltration, simulate a ransomware deployment, or attempt to compromise a specific critical system.
We combine attack vectors. A single operation could chain a spear-phish into network access into lateral movement into a physical site visit to plant a device. We establish C2 infrastructure and maintain persistent access to see if your monitoring picks it up.
We can run a collaborative purple team phase afterwards, replaying the attack with your blue team so they can build detection rules around what we actually did.
Assumed breach is also an option. Skip initial access entirely, start from an internal foothold, and test your detection and containment from there.
How it works
Threat modelling and objectives. We sit down with your stakeholders and define what we’re going after. What would a nation-state target in your environment? What about organised crime? The objectives drive the whole engagement.
Rules of engagement. We agree a detailed ROE covering scope, exclusions, comms protocols, emergency contacts, and escalation. Only a small number of people in your organisation know this is happening.
Recon and planning. Our operators do proper reconnaissance. Staff, systems, processes, public information. This mirrors what a real adversary does before they move.
Execution. We go. Spear-phishing specific people, hitting external infrastructure, walking into your offices, chaining techniques. Whatever falls within the ROE. Everything gets logged with timestamps and evidence.
Reporting and debrief. The report reads as a narrative of the full attack path, from initial recon through to objective completion. Each stage covers techniques used, what your team detected, what they missed, and what to fix. We recommend a purple team debrief where our operators walk your defenders through every stage.
Why it matters
Pentests tell you where vulnerabilities are. Red teaming tells you whether your organisation can detect and stop an attack while it’s happening.
Most organisations going through their first red team discover that attacks they assumed would trigger alerts went completely unnoticed. Better us than an actual threat actor.
Regular red teaming builds faster incident response over time. Your team gets better at recognising real attack patterns because they’ve seen them before.
For regulated sectors, CBEST, TIBER-EU, and DORA require or recommend this kind of testing. And a red team report gives your board an evidence-based view of where the organisation actually stands, not where they hope it does.