Red Teamer

Red Teamers play the role of a simulated adversary, tasked with finding weaknesses in a system's defences. They conduct simulated attacks, often without prior knowledge of the system, to identify vulnerabilities that could be exploited by real attackers. Their goal is to help organisations improve their security posture by revealing weaknesses and providing recommendations for mitigation. Think of a red teamer as the James Bond of cyber security! They're the ultimate secret agents, but instead of saving the world, they're hacking into systems to find vulnerabilities before the bad guys do. Red Team Engineers (commonly known as Red Team Operators) are critically important in exploring the tactics, techniques, and procedures attackers use to infiltrate IT systems and stay under the radar in covert operations. Mimicking the bad guys, Red Teamers pose as cyber criminals and emulate malicious attacks to test security and detect vulnerabilities. Red Teamers play crucial roles, as their operations place organisations as close to a real security incident as possible to accurately test incident response. Red teams must maintain oversight of blue team actions in order to gain visibility of both threat and defence strategies. This rule also applies to blue teams, who should understand how offensive security works and how attackers go about this to arm the defence. Initially, a Red Teamer may start as an entry-level, Penetration Tester, tasked with conducting basic security assessments and vulnerability scans. Along the way, you'll have the opportunity to collaborate with fellow red teamers, share knowledge, and contribute to the collective mission of safeguarding digital assets. With further experience, a Red Teamer might specialise in particular areas such as network penetration testing, web application security, or social engineering. They may also develop expertise in using advanced tools and techniques, such as exploit development or reverse engineering. The day-to-day responsibilities of a Red Teamer typically involve simulating cyber attacks to identify and exploit vulnerabilities in an organisation's systems and infrastructure. This includes tasks such as conducting penetration tests, performing vulnerability assessments, researching new attack techniques, developing custom exploits, and collaborating with blue team defenders to improve overall security posture.