Everything you need to know about RED Team Assessment Phases

Hackers can steal sensitive information from any organization’s systems. Organizations are now willing to examine their systems for vulnerabilities before hackers do so that they can protect their networks and systems.

Organizations need to think like hackers to find vulnerabilities. To do this, they hire the “red team,” a group of ethical hackers who will constantly update themselves with new hacking tools and techniques. They will also implement their strategies to exploit vulnerabilities in ethical ways.
It is important to be aware of the activities of red teams. Let’s now see how they do it.
Phases of assessment for the red team:
The red team assessment has seven phases. Let’s take a look at each phase.
Planning/setting objectives: This is the first phase in red team assessment. It is crucial to know what you need to do. Some organizations do not need to use social engineering techniques to find vulnerabilities. Some companies want to know how attackers can exploit these vulnerabilities. These are not all requirements. Knowing the objectives is crucial.
Red team assessments are crucial because all parties involved must have the same understanding of the “rules”.
Once the assessment is complete, the team can begin planning their approach. Depending on the assessment, there are different avenues that may prove more or less promising. You can save time and avoid unintended consequences by creating a rough outline before the assessment is completed. This will also make it easier to assign roles within the team.
Reconnaissance: This is where an ethical hacker gathers information on the target. They will attempt to discover everything about the target, but they will not be caught. Once they have the necessary information, such as open ports, vulnerabilities, IP addresses, they will stop. Red teams perform this step passively in order to avoid detection.
Let’s look at a real-life example to understand why reconnaissance is so important.
Imagine a thief stealing your gold. He will first plan the robbery. This is the first step. Then he will gather all information, which is reconnaissance. This information would include how many people will be staying in the house, when you go outside, and how many entry points are available. He will fail without this information. Right? Hacking or stealing reconnaissance can be very important.
Scanning and enumeration. A red team should have a lot of information about the target’s digital and physical habits and defenses after the reconnaissance phase. The red team reviews this information as part of the target identification phase of the attack. They then determine possible vulnerabilities and ways to achieve their objectives. During this phase, active information-gathering techniques, including network scanning and enumeration, are also employed. The team will often identify multiple avenues of attack to maximize their chances of success.
Gaining access: This stage is where the red teams make their first major attack on the organization. The red team exploits vulnerabilities found in previous stages to bypass or surpass the organization’s defenses during the gaining access phase. This could include exploiting software flaws, using social engineering against employees, or circumventing physical barriers. The ultimate goal of the phase is to give the red team a footing in the target’s defenses.