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Introduction
The internet is rife with dangers! There is a chance that you will be exposed to risk whenever you go online. There are other types of computer dangers within that risk range, each with its own set of detrimental effects. Some attacks, for example, can harm or corrupt your installed operating system, forcing you to reinstall it. Another type may attempt to steal your login credentials and passwords. On the other hand, other attacks may not destroy your computer but will track your online habits and invade your privacy.
Criminals are more intelligent than they've ever been, and malicious software is more complex than before. Modern malware can infect a target PC and go unnoticed for an extended period. At the same time, advances in processing power allow for the cracking of complex passwords in a matter of seconds. The majority of cyberattacks nowadays are carried out with the intent of stealing your money, gaining access to your personal information, or obtaining your login credentials rather than causing damage to your computer. In terms of concept, cybersecurity hazards may be classified into two categories: passive and active attacks. In this post, we'll go over the differences between the two and provide some examples of each.
Hackers monitor and scan systems for weaknesses or access points that allow them to intercept data without altering it in passive assaults. Hackers attempt to change the integrity and availability of the information they have intercepted in an active attack to acquire access or greater privileges. To put it another way, hackers may exploit data obtained during passive assaults to compromise a victim in an active attack.
Let us go through the red, blue and purple teams in detail. It is very important to learn the concept of red, blue and purple teams in information security. Also, there is some confusion about the definitions of Red, Blue and Purple teams within Information Security. Let us clear these confusions in this article.
You can read about the difference between Active Attack and Passive Attack here.
Red Team
Internal or external Red Teams are tasked with evaluating the success of a security programme by simulating the tools and techniques of potential attackers as closely as feasible. It involves the pursuit of one or more objectives - usually carried out as a campaign - and is related to, but not identical to, Penetration Testing. Penetration testing is also known as pen testing or ethical hacking. It describes the intentional launching of simulated cyberattacks that seek out exploitable vulnerabilities in computer systems, networks, websites, and applications.
While there is a lot of common elements in abilities and functions between Red Teams and Penetration Testers, they are not the same thing.
Red Teams are distinguished from other offensive security teams by a number of characteristics. Among the most important are:
- Emulation of the TTP(tactics, techniques, and procedures) employed by adversaries the target is likely to encounter, such as the employment of identical tools, exploits, pivoting tactics, and aims as a specific threat actor.
- Campaign-based testing lasts for a long duration, such as several weeks or months of simulating the same attacker.
It's a Penetration Test, not a Red Team engagement, if a security team employs typical pen-testing tools, runs their testing for only a few weeks, and tries to accomplish a standard set of goals - such as pivoting to the internal network, stealing data, or gaining domain admin. Over the duration of a long period of time, Red Team engagements use a customised set of TTP and goals.
Red Teams don't only test for vulnerabilities; they do it in campaigns that constantly run for an extended period of time, employing the TTP of their likely threat actors.
Of course, it is possible to create a Red Team campaign that uses the best-of-the-best TTPs known to the Red Team, as well as a combination of common pen-testing tools, techniques, and goals, and run it as a campaign (modelling a Pentester adversary), but I believe the purest form of a Red Team campaign reproduces a specific threat actor's TTPs—which will not necessarily be the similar as if the Red Team were attacking itself.