🎭 Red Team Operations
Advanced adversarial simulation - Emulating real-world threat actors and APT groups
Expert LevelOverview
Red Team Operations represent the pinnacle of offensive security. This expert-level domain focuses on emulating sophisticated threat actors and Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) groups. You'll learn to conduct multi-stage attacks, maintain long-term persistence, and operate with the stealth and sophistication of real-world adversaries.
Learning Objectives
- Master Command & Control (C2) framework development and deployment
- Develop expertise in Living off the Land techniques
- Learn advanced EDR/AV evasion methodologies
- Understand social engineering campaign orchestration
- Master lateral movement and persistence techniques
- Develop operational security (OPSEC) best practices
🎮 Command & Control Frameworks
Cobalt Strike Mastery
Professional red team platform for advanced adversary simulation.
- Beacon configuration and customization
- Malleable C2 profile development
- Advanced post-exploitation modules
- Sleep mask and process injection
Custom C2 Development
Building bespoke command and control infrastructure.
- C2 protocol design and implementation
- Encrypted communication channels
- Domain fronting and CDN abuse
- C2 redundancy and failover
Open Source C2 Platforms
Leveraging and customizing open source C2 frameworks.
- Covenant and Empire frameworks
- Sliver C2 platform
- Mythic collaborative platform
- Framework comparison and selection
🏡 Living off the Land Techniques
LOLBins & LOLBAs
Abusing legitimate binaries and applications for malicious purposes.
- PowerShell and WMI abuse
- Windows built-in tool exploitation
- Registry manipulation techniques
- Scheduled task abuse
Fileless Attacks
Memory-only attacks that leave minimal forensic evidence.
- In-memory payload execution
- PowerShell reflection attacks
- Process hollowing techniques
- DLL injection methods
Process Injection
Advanced process injection techniques for stealth execution.
- DLL injection variations
- Process hollowing and doppelgänging
- Manual DLL loading
- Thread execution hijacking
👻 EDR/AV Evasion
Signature Evasion
Bypassing signature-based detection mechanisms.
- Payload encoding and encryption
- Polymorphic code generation
- String obfuscation techniques
- Anti-emulation methods
Behavioral Evasion
Evading behavioral analysis and heuristic detection.
- Sleep and timing manipulation
- Sandbox detection and evasion
- Environment keying techniques
- User interaction simulation
EDR Bypass Techniques
Advanced methods for evading Endpoint Detection and Response.
- ETW (Event Tracing for Windows) bypass
- AMSI (Anti-Malware Scan Interface) evasion
- API hooking detection and bypass
- Kernel callback evasion
🎣 Social Engineering Campaigns
Phishing Operations
Sophisticated phishing campaign development and execution.
- Spear phishing targeting
- Credential harvesting pages
- Email spoofing and impersonation
- Multi-stage phishing campaigns
Pretexting & Vishing
Voice and text-based social engineering techniques.
- Phone-based information gathering
- Pretext development and execution
- Voice changing and spoofing
- SMS phishing campaigns
Physical Security
Physical penetration testing and social engineering.
- Badge cloning and RFID attacks
- Lock picking and bypass
- Tailgating and piggybacking
- USB drop attacks
🚶 Lateral Movement Techniques
Credential Theft
Advanced credential harvesting and reuse techniques.
- LSASS memory dumping
- Kerberos ticket extraction
- NTDS.dit extraction
- Browser credential harvesting
Network Movement
Moving through network segments and trust boundaries.
- SMB and WMI lateral movement
- PowerShell Remoting abuse
- RDP and SSH tunneling
- Network pivoting techniques
Trust Relationship Abuse
Exploiting trust relationships for domain movement.
- Domain trust enumeration
- Forest trust exploitation
- Cross-domain attack paths
- External trust abuse
🔐 Persistence Mechanisms
Registry Persistence
Windows registry-based persistence techniques.
- Run keys and startup folders
- Service creation and modification
- WMI event subscriptions
- COM hijacking techniques
Scheduled Tasks & Services
Leveraging system services for persistent access.
- Scheduled task creation
- Service binary replacement
- Service DLL hijacking
- Logon script persistence
Advanced Persistence
Sophisticated persistence mechanisms for long-term access.
- Bootkit and rootkit techniques
- UEFI persistence
- Hypervisor-based persistence
- Firmware implant techniques
🔒 Operational Security (OPSEC)
Infrastructure OPSEC
Securing red team infrastructure and maintaining anonymity.
- C2 infrastructure isolation
- Domain categorization and aging
- Traffic redirection and proxying
- Infrastructure attribution prevention
Payload OPSEC
Developing operationally secure payloads and tools.
- Payload signing and validation
- Anti-analysis techniques
- Attribution prevention
- Forensic counter-measures
Operational OPSEC
Maintaining operational security during engagements.
- Communication security
- Timeline and activity correlation
- Log evasion techniques
- Incident response evasion
🧪 Hands-on Lab: Full Red Team Campaign
Objective: Execute a complete red team operation from initial access to persistence.
Duration: 16-20 hours
Skills Practiced: C2 deployment, lateral movement, persistence, OPSEC
Start Lab Exercise🛠️ Red Team Arsenal
C2 Frameworks
- Cobalt Strike: Professional red team platform
- Covenant: .NET C2 framework
- Empire: PowerShell and Python post-exploitation
- Sliver: Open source C2 platform
Evasion Tools
- Veil: Payload generation framework
- Donut: Shellcode generation tool
- ScareCrow: EDR evasion tool
- ThreatCheck: AV signature scanner
Post-Exploitation
- SharpCollection: C# offensive tools
- GhostPack: .NET post-exploitation toolkit
- BloodHound: AD attack path analysis
- PowerSploit: PowerShell exploitation toolkit
📋 Recommended Resources
- Red Team Development and Operations - Comprehensive red team guide
- Advanced Penetration Testing - Sophisticated attack techniques
- The Hacker Playbook 3 - Red team methodologies
- MITRE ATT&CK Framework - Adversary tactics and techniques
- Red Team Field Manual - Quick reference guide
🎯 Professional Development
Red Team Certifications
Industry certifications for red team professionals:
- ✅ CRTO (Certified Red Team Operator)
- ✅ CRTP (Certified Red Team Professional)
- ✅ GCIH (GIAC Certified Incident Handler)
- ✅ GPEN (GIAC Penetration Tester)
RFS Expertise: Senior Red Team experience with specialization in telecommunications and unified communications security.
📈 Learning Progress
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