Red Teaming

Red teaming simulates a real-world attacker with no fixed playbook, testing whether your security team can detect and stop them.

Why red teaming matters

A pentest finds vulnerabilities in one system. Red teaming goes further. It tests how well your security operations center detects and responds to a realistic, ongoing attack across people, process, and technology.

These controlled attacks measure how fast your team can catch, contain, and respond to a sophisticated intrusion.

Social engineering test included

Security is a team effort. Even the most robust firewall is useless if your team members can be convinced to share access badges, keys, or passwords. That is why red teaming is not limited to checking your technical security. Just like real attackers, we also put human behaviour and business processes to the test. This technique – trying to obtain sensitive information through human interaction — is called social engineering.

Examples of Social Engineering

How Red Teaming Works

1. Preparation

We gather intelligence about your organization, identifying potential attack paths, exposed assets, technologies, and people. We then prepare the tooling and techniques needed to replicate a realistic threat actor, mapping your environment the way a real attacker would.

2. Initial access

We attempt realistic ways of getting into your environment, such as phishing, credential theft, or exploiting identified vulnerabilities. The goal is to test whether your existing controls can prevent or detect an attacker gaining that first foothold.

3. Lateral movement

Once inside, we test how far an attacker could realistically get. This includes moving between systems, escalating privileges, accessing sensitive resources, and assessing whether these activities would be detected by your security team.

4. Debrief

We work toward the agreed objective while carefully documenting each step along the way. Once the exercise is complete, we walk your team through the full attack path, what was detected or missed, and where improvements can have the greatest impact.

The Advantages of Red Teaming

Measure real SOC performance

Test your detection and response capabilities under realistic conditions, using actual metrics such as alerting, investigation, and response times rather than assumptions or theoretical scenarios.

Test human defences

See how your people respond to realistic social engineering and phishing attempts, and identify where additional awareness or processes could reduce risk.

Validation

Security budgets are often spent on tools, controls, and policies, but how do you know they actually work? Our red team exercises put your defenses to the test, showing which solutions are effective and where gaps remain.

When to choose red teaming over pentesting?

You already test regularly

Ideal once you have a mature security posture and a dedicated SOC or EDR. Red teaming builds on regular vulnerability testing by focusing on how well your defenses work against a realistic, end-to-end attack.

Validating a big investment

Confirm your new SIEM or EDR detects what it should. A red team can put these tools to the test using realistic attacker techniques and show whether alerts are generated, investigated, and acted on effectively.

Regulatory mandates

Supports frameworks like TIBER-EU and DORA’s threat-led testing requirements. It provides a realistic way to demonstrate how your organization performs against simulated threats while identifying areas where your security controls may need improvement.

M&A due dilligence

Assess the real security posture of a company before you acquire it. Red teaming can reveal weaknesses that may not appear in standard audits or documentation, helping you understand the practical security risks you could be taking on.

Who benefits most?

Large enterprises with complex environments, financial services proving operational resilience, critical infrastructure operators, and tech companies protecting high-value IP.

Red teaming deliverables in a nutshell

We keep your environment secure

At Refracted, we believe that everyone has the right to be safe in a digital world. That is why we dedicate all our knowledge and skills to keeping your security environment healthy. Just like power fruit, we boost up your immune system and protect you from harm.

Test your defenses against real-world tactics

Contact our offensive security leaders to plan a realistic adversary emulation exercise.

People also ask

What's the difference between pentesting and red teaming?

Penetration testing has a defined scope and time limit. It systematically identifies and validates technical vulnerabilities within agreed boundaries. Red Teaming also operates within a defined scope and time limit, but both are typically much broader. Specific assets or systems can be explicitly excluded, and the engagement window is longer. Within those boundaries, the red team is free to use any available technique, entry point, or attack path, just like a real adversary. It tests your people, processes, and detection capabilities, not just your technical defences. Most organisations benefit from establishing a penetration testing baseline before investing in Red Teaming.

Who is red teaming suitable for?

Red Teaming is best suited for organisations that already have a security baseline in place and want to validate it under realistic attack conditions. If you have not yet conducted regular penetration tests, or if your Incident Response Plan is still being developed, start there first. Red Teaming delivers the most value when there is something meaningful to test against.

Will our IT or security team know the exercise is taking place?

In a full Red Team engagement, only a small group of senior stakeholders is informed, and not the security or IT team. This is deliberate: it tests whether your team can independently detect and respond to a realistic threat. The exercise reveals gaps in detection capability that would not surface if the team knew to expect an attack. Your team’s response is part of what is being measured.

How does red teaming relate to NIS2 and DORA?

Both NIS2 and DORA require organisations to test their security measures under realistic conditions. DORA specifically mandates Threat-Led Penetration Testing (TLPT) for financial entities: A regulated form of red teaming aligned with the TIBER-EU framework. NIS2 similarly requires regular assessment of detection and response capabilities.