Does our internal team know the red team is coming?

Typically only a small group of senior stakeholders are aware (the “White Team”). The blue team and SOC operate without knowledge of the engagement to simulate a real attack scenario.

How long does a red team engagement take?

Red team engagements typically run for 3–8 weeks depending on scope, complexity, and objectives defined.

Do you provide a report?

Yes. You receive a full attack narrative report, a technical findings report, a detection gap analysis, and strategic recommendations for improving your detection and response capabilities.

Penetration Testing

Red Team Services

A penetration test tells you where your vulnerabilities are. A red team engagement tells you whether your people, your SOC, and your incident response actually work when a real attacker is inside your network.

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About This Service

What is Red Team Services?

A realistic, goal-oriented adversarial simulation designed to test your organisation’s detection, response, and resilience against a persistent, sophisticated threat actor — going far beyond a standard penetration test.

Technical controls and compliance passes look good on paper. A red team exercise tests whether those controls actually hold when someone is actively trying to circumvent them — using the same patience, creativity, and technique as a real threat actor targeting your organisation specifically.

At a Glance

Frameworks: MITRE ATT&CK, TIBER-EU, CBEST, PTES
Typical Timeline: 3–8 weeks
Report: Executive summary + full technical findings
Retest: Complimentary, included in every engagement
NDA: Signed before any technical discussion

What You Gain

Outcomes that move your security forward

Test your entire security programme — people, processes, and technology — under realistic attack conditions

Identify gaps in your detection and response capabilities before a real attacker exposes them

Validate the effectiveness of your SOC, EDR tools, and incident response procedures

Satisfy board and executive demands for evidence that your security investments are working

Meet red team exercise requirements for financial services, critical infrastructure, and regulated industries

Receive a clear attack narrative showing the exact path an attacker would take to compromise your most critical assets

Deliverables

What You Receive

Executive Summary Report

Strategic overview of the engagement outcome for board and senior leadership

Full Attack Narrative

Chronological account of every action taken from initial access to objective achievement

Technical Findings Report

All vulnerabilities and weaknesses exploited, with proof-of-concept and CVSS scores

MITRE ATT&CK Mapping

All techniques used mapped to the ATT&CK framework for blue team reference

Detection Gap Analysis

Timeline showing which actions were detected vs missed by your SOC and security tools

Strategic Recommendations

Prioritised improvements to people, process, and technology based on engagement findings

Executive Debrief

In-person or video walkthrough with your security leadership and board

Scope

What We Test

Initial access via phishing, spear-phishing, and social engineering

External network exploitation and perimeter breach

Physical security testing — tailgating, badge cloning (where in scope)

Credential harvesting and password attacks

Lateral movement across internal networks

Active Directory attack paths — escalation to domain admin

Data exfiltration simulation

Evasion of endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools

Testing of blue team detection and incident response capabilities

Command and control (C2) infrastructure simulation

Process

How We Run This Engagement

Every engagement follows a defined, transparent process — no surprises, no hidden scope changes, and no invoice for work you did not agree to.

Objective Definition

Agree on crown jewels, flags, success criteria, and rules of engagement.

Reconnaissance & Planning

In-depth intelligence gathering on people, technology, and processes.

Initial Access

Attempt to breach the organisation through the most realistic attack path.

Persistence & Lateral Movement

Establish foothold, escalate privileges, and move toward objectives.

Objective Achievement

Simulate data exfiltration or demonstrate access to defined critical systems.

Debrief & Reporting

Full attack narrative, detection timeline, and strategic remediation recommendations.

Why Us

Why Work With Vigilant Defenders

Manual Testing. Not Scanner Output.

Automated tools find known signatures. Our certified consultants find the chained attack paths, logic flaws, and context-specific vulnerabilities that no scanner will surface. Every finding we report is manually verified — zero false positives.

Reports Built for Action, Not Filing.

Every finding includes a proof-of-concept, a CVSS risk score, the affected system or endpoint, and step-by-step remediation guidance written for the team that has to fix it. Your developers and your board both get a report they can use.

Confidentiality From Day One.

We sign a formal NDA before any technical discussion begins. Your vulnerabilities, your architecture, and your engagement findings are treated with the same confidentiality as attorney-client communications. We have never disclosed client information.

We Stay Until It's Fixed.

Every engagement includes a complimentary retest once your team has addressed the findings. We verify that the vulnerabilities are genuinely closed — not surface-patched — and issue a formal retest certificate you can share with clients and auditors.

MITRE ATT&CK-Mapped. Board-Ready Reporting.

Every action taken by our red team is mapped to the MITRE ATT&CK framework, giving your blue team a precise technical reference for improving detection rules. And every engagement ends with a board-ready narrative report that communicates real business risk without requiring your executives to read a CVE list.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know about this engagement.

A penetration test aims to find as many vulnerabilities as possible within a defined scope and timeframe. A red team engagement is objective-driven — simulating a real, targeted attacker trying to reach specific goals while evading detection. It tests your entire security programme, not just technical controls.

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