INSIGHT

Red teaming vs. penetration testing 

Josh Schmidt • April 16, 2025

Services: Penetration Testing

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Cybersecurity threats continue to grow in sophistication and frequency. The cost of data breaches reached unprecedented levels in 2024, with some companies experiencing a cyber attack that cost upwards of $100 million.  

To avoid costly attacks, organizations must adopt proactive security measures to protect their assets and maintain customer trust.  

Two key strategies in proactive cybersecurity are red teaming and penetration testing. These methods allow organizations to assess their security posture from different angles: 

1. Penetration testing simulates targeted attacks on specific systems or networks to uncover vulnerabilities. 

2. Red teaming takes a broader approach, evaluating an organization’s overall security by simulating real-world attack scenarios. 

Both techniques play crucial roles in strengthening an organization’s defenses but differ in scope, objectives, and methodology. Understanding these differences is essential for companies looking to implement a holistic approach to security controls and management. 

Understanding pen testing 

Penetration testing, often called pen testing, is a controlled method of evaluating an organization’s cybersecurity defenses. It simulates real-world attacks to identify existing vulnerabilities in systems, networks, or applications. The primary objective is to uncover security weaknesses before malicious actors can exploit them. 

Penetration testers typically focus on specific areas, such as external network penetration, internal network penetration, web application testing, or wireless network assessments. Each type targets different aspects of an organization’s infrastructure, providing a comprehensive view of potential vulnerabilities within the scope of the engagement.  

Penetration testers focus on several key components: 

• Reconnaissance: gathering information about the target 
• Scanning: identifying potential entry points 
• Vulnerability assessment: analyzing discovered weaknesses 
• Exploitation: attempting to breach the system 
• Reporting: documenting findings and recommending fixes 

While penetration testing offers valuable insights into an organization’s security posture, it has limitations. Pen testing is often more time-constrained and focused on known vulnerabilities, potentially missing more complex or novel attack vectors. 

Exploring red team assessments 

Compared to pen testing, red team assessments take a more adversarial approach to security testing. They simulate real-world attacks on an organization, mimicking the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) of real-world threat actors. 

What is red teaming? 

Red teaming is an offensive security approach where a group of professionals simulates real-world cyberattacks to test an organization’s defenses. It works in tandem with blue teams, who defend against and respond to these simulated attacks – frequently without knowledge of the red team. 

Red team engagements help organizations identify vulnerabilities, improve incident response, and strengthen their overall security readiness by mimicking the tactics of actual threat actors. 

How does red teaming work? 

The primary goal of a red team assessment is to discover real world vulnerabilities in an organization’s security posture, including its ability to detect and respond to sophisticated attacks. Unlike penetration testing, a red teaming exercise typically aims to achieve specific objectives, or goals, such as gaining access to sensitive data or compromising specified critical systems. 

Red team methodology is more objective focused and typically involves: 

• Extensive reconnaissance and intelligence gathering 
• Developing custom tools to exploit vulnerabilities 
• Employing social engineering attacks and tactics 
• Attempting to evade detection and maintain long-term access 
• Simulating multi-vector attacks 

A key element of a red team operation is its goal-oriented approach. Red teams work towards specific objectives, often targeting an organization’s “crown jewels.” This focus allows for a more realistic simulation of how actual attackers might prioritize their efforts. 

Stealth and persistence are crucial components of a red teaming exercise. Operations typically last at least a month and can scale up to over six months, with red teamers attempting to remain undetected throughout the engagement. This extended timeframe allows for a more thorough assessment of an organization’s ability to detect and respond to ongoing threats. 

The real-world simulation aspect of red teaming sets it apart from other security assessments. By using the same TTPs as actual threat actors, red teams provide organizations with invaluable insights into how they might fare against sophisticated adversaries. 

While red teaming offers significant advantages, it also presents unique challenges. Because red teams are typically attempting to remain undetected, the engagements take significantly longer and are generally more costly per discovered vulnerability. Communication with the target organization can vary, depending on scope, but is often restricted to very few contacts within the company. 

Despite these challenges, red teaming remains a powerful tool in an organization’s security arsenal. By providing a holistic view of security posture and identifying real-world attack paths, red team assessments enable organizations to strengthen their defenses against the most sophisticated threats they face. 

Red teaming vs pen testing: A detailed comparison 

Both penetration testing and red teaming are valuable cybersecurity assessment methods, but they differ significantly in their approach, scope, and outcomes.  

The primary distinction lies in their objectives and methodology. While penetration testing focuses on identifying all vulnerabilities within a defined scope, red teaming simulates real-world attacks to assess an organization’s security posture with respect to an advanced threat targeting their most valuable resources by any means. 

Here’s a detailed comparison of red teaming and penetration testing: 

Understanding these differences between red teaming and penetration testing is crucial for organizations to choose the most appropriate assessment method based on their security maturity, objectives, and resources. 

When to choose penetration testing 

Penetration testing is most effective for organizations seeking to identify all vulnerabilities within a specific scope. It’s particularly useful for: 

• Evaluating new systems or applications before deployment 
• Assessing the security of specific assets or network segments
• Meeting compliance requirements in regulated industries 

Industries that benefit most from penetration testing include manufacturing, healthcare, legal services, and financial institutions, as these sectors handle secure data and face significant risks from cyber attacks. 

Here’s what this could look like.  

Say a financial institution went through a comprehensive external and internal penetration test to meet regulatory compliance requirements. Many vulnerabilities were discovered and reported. Prioritized remediation guidance was provided to the financial institution so they can appropriately assign resources to improve the organization’s security posture in the most cost-effective manner possible. 

When red teaming is the right choice 

Red team assessments are ideal for organizations with mature security programs looking to test their security in an on-going fashion. They’re particularly valuable when: 

• Simulating advanced persistent threats (APTs) 
• Creating a more realistic threat scenario 
• The IT team is not expected to create any allowances 
• Evaluating incident response capabilities 
• Testing the real-world effectiveness of security controls across the organization 

Given the more extensive nature of the testing parameters, organizations ready for red team assessments typically have, established security policies and procedures, a dedicated security team or security operations center (SOC), and plenty of resources to support a comprehensive, long-term engagement.  

Here’s what this could look like.  

Pretend a large financial institution conducted a red team assessment to test its defenses against sophisticated attacks. The red team successfully breached the network through a combination of social engineering and exploiting a zero-day vulnerability. This exercise revealed gaps in the organization’s detection capabilities and led to significant improvements in its incident response procedures. 

An integrated approach: Combining the best of both worlds 

BPM recognizes that both penetration testing and red teaming offer unique benefits. Our integrated approach leverages the strengths of both techniques to provide comprehensive security assessments tailored to each client’s needs. 

By utilizing both methodologies, we can: 

• Identify specific vulnerabilities through targeted penetration testing 
• Assess your organization’s ability to detect and respond to sophisticated attacks 
• Evaluate the effectiveness of your security controls across multiple vectors 
• Provide a more comprehensive view of your overall security environment 

With a hybrid approach, businesses receive a more thorough assessment of their security defenses, gaining insights into both technical vulnerabilities and potential gaps in their incident response readiness. This evaluation enables organizations to make more informed decisions about resource allocation and security investments. 

Building a resilient cybersecurity posture with red teaming and penetration testing 

Both red teaming and pen testing are security strategies designed to exploit vulnerabilities, but they achieve this in fundamentally different ways—both of which can benefit your organization. 

By regularly assessing your defenses through penetration testing and red teaming, you can stay ahead of potential attackers, identify weaknesses before they can be exploited, and continuously improve your security resilience. 

Don’t wait for a breach to expose your security vulnerabilities. Take action to strengthen your organization’s security controls. Schedule a call with our security team for a personalized assessment.