Red Teaming

We simulate real-world attacks across systems, people, and processes to see how well your defenses hold up against advanced adversaries.

What is red teaming?

Red teaming is a form of ethical hacking used to perform a broad security audit. During a red teaming exercise, we impersonate a real hacker attempting to reach one or more fixed objectives, known as ‘flags’. For example, one flag could be to access your password-protected system and perform a transaction.

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

Together, we specify the goal and duration of the exercise and discuss which areas should be left untouched. After gathering information about potential threats, we craft a realistic attack scenario.

2. Execution

Once the plan is approved, we breach your security in a controlled way to see how your company responds. Like real hackers, we take our time navigating through the kill chain.

3. Reporting

We log all our actions along the way. Afterwards, we present our findings and recommendations in a language that all parties can understand. We identify the next steps and their priority.

4. Aftercare (Optional)

Optionally, we coach and advise you while you take the necessary steps to improve your security. After implementation, we can repeat the test to ensure that your security maturity has improved.

The Advantages of Red Teaming

Insight

Most organizations have multiple systems, applications, and user accounts that could be targeted by attackers. Our red team simulates real-world intrusions to reveal exactly how an attacker could move through your organization, which assets are most vulnerable, and what paths could lead to critical data or business disruption.

Detection capabilities

Technology alone isn’t enough. Your team’s ability to detect, respond, and contain threats is critical. Through realistic attack scenarios — including social engineering, phishing, and simulated network intrusions — we measure how effectively your people, processes, and security tools respond in real time.

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. This allows you to prioritize investments, reduce unnecessary costs, and justify security spending to leadership or auditors.

When to Perform Red Teaming?

Before a merger or acquisition

Identify hidden risks and assess the resilience of both organizations to avoid costly surprises during or after the transition.

Periodically

Ongoing red teaming helps track improvements, test detection and response capabilities, and maintain a proactive security posture.

Third-party requirement

Some partners, auditors, or regulators may require independent, high-level testing to verify that your security is battle-ready.

After a transformation

Whether it’s digital transformation, cloud migration, or infrastructure overhaul, red teaming ensures your new setup hasn’t introduced critical weaknesses.

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.

Give your security a boost

Schedule a call with our digital security experts. We check your security so you can protect your company.
Because you deserve to feel confident and safe in a digital world.

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.