Discovering system weaknesses and evaluating existing cyber defenses are the best ways for organizations to thwart possible cyber threats and maintain operational security. However, most organizations find it hard to detect new cyber infiltration and attack routes taken by cybercriminals to breach system-wide organizational IT defenses. This is where a Red & Blue team cyber-exercise in securing data infiltration points and patching network vulnerabilities comes into play.
In cybersecurity, the terms Red and Blue teams are used to describe manned IT defense assets who use their skills to imitate an attack vector that a hacker (red team) might use while the defense line (blue team) uses its skills to defend the system. The scenario can be a very challenging one, with the foremost brains pitted against one another. To hone your skills as a cybersecurity expert, it’s best to use the right platform to gain a deeper understanding of the process.
Cybersecurity is an art that’s complemented by science, and as such EC-Council is your penultimate guide to building a career around cyber defense. This article breaks down the skill sets you need and the aptitude that makes you the perfect fit for a red or blue team.
What Is the Red Team?
As defined by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), a red team is an entity that specializes in breaking & entering, acquiring classified information, and leaving no trace behind. In the cyber realm, Red teams focus on penetration testing of different systems and their levels of security. They help detect, prevent, and eliminate weaknesses while putting a spotlight on glaring vulnerabilities. A red team goes about this by imitating real-world cyber-using all existing data/network penetration techniques. This helps organizations identify the vulnerabilities that can pose a threat to their system.
What Is the Blue Team?
At par with the Red team, a Blue team is tasked with safeguarding an organization’s network security and to discover possible vulnerabilities. Contrary to the Red Team, the Blue team is entrusted with network defense reinforcement, while ensuring prompt incident response in the event of a successful cyberattack, regardless of the damage inflicted.
Top Red and Blue Team Skills
Red teams and blue teams uniquely differ in their approach, primarily because of techniques and operational parameters. A deep understanding of each team’s techniques will get you more insight into their respective roles and purposes. With this article, you will also gain a deeper understanding of your skills and whether they match the job description or not.
Red team skills
The members of the Red team need to understand how an attacker’s mind works and put themselves in the attacker’s shoes, understanding his/her attack vector creativity.
Out-of-the-box approach
A red team’s major characteristic is thinking outside the box as they are always on the lookout for new tools and techniques to infiltrate vulnerable data points while bringing more clarity on protecting the systems better. As a red team member, you will go against the rules and legality while following white hat techniques to show people the flaws in their systems.
Deep knowledge of systems
To be part of a successful Red team, you need to possess a deep knowledge of computer systems, libraries, protocols, and known methodologies. You will also need to know servers and databases in order to exercise multiple attack options when it comes to discovering a system’s vulnerability.
Software development
There are substantial benefits if you know how to develop your own tools. Writing software needs a lot of evolved learning and practice, but it will come in handy to perform the best offense tactics.
Penetration testing
Penetration testing is the simulation of an attack on network systems to assess its security. Pentesting helps to discover vulnerabilities and potential threats to provide a full risk assessment. Therefore, it is important for red teams to be able to do pentesting, and is even among their standard procedures.
Social engineering
During security audits, red teams need to be able to manipulate people into performing actions that can lead to the exposure of sensitive data. This is because human error is among the causes of data breaches and leaks.
Blue team skills
A blue team needs to have the ability to close backdoors and weaknesses that most people don’t know about.
Organized & detail-oriented
You will fit better into a blue team if you play by the book and prefer using tried and trusted methods. You need to be detail-oriented in order to not leave gaps in the security infrastructure of an organization.
Cybersecurity analysis & threat profile
During the assessment of an organization’s security, you will need the skill to create a risk or threat profile. A good threat profile comprises all data, including potential threat attackers and real-life threat scenarios, and thorough preparation for future attacks by working on vulnerable parts of the system.
Hardening techniques
Before an organization can be totally prepared for any attack, there is a need for technical hardening techniques of all systems for reducing the attack surface hackers can exploit.
Knowledge of detection systems
A blue team needs to be familiar with software applications for tracking the network for any unusual and malicious activity. By following all the packet filtering, network traffic, existing firewalls, etc., you can better grip all activities in the network systems.
Security Information & Event Management (SIEM)
This is a system that provides real-time analysis of security events. With this software, you can gather data from external sources and perform data analysis based on a specific criterion.
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