red team
Friendly offensive hackers
A red team is a group that tests security by simulating attacks or adversarial behavior.
In military and cybersecurity contexts, red teams probe defenses to expose vulnerabilities before real enemies can exploit them: The red team found three ways into the network.
The practice has spread to business strategy, AI safety, and other fields where stress-testing assumptions matters.
To red-team something is to subject it to this adversarial scrutiny.
Simulated combat training
- opposing forcePower working against another
- combat trainingMilitary fighting instruction
- reconnaissanceInformation-gathering before action
- intelligence gatheringObtaining secret information systematically
Authorized security vulnerability assessment
- ethical hackingAuthorized security vulnerability testing
- exploitNotable act or abuse
- intrusion detectionSpotting unauthorized access attempts
- zero-dayUnpatched security vulnerability
forensics · countermeasures · risk assessment · white hat · bug bounty · social engineering
Objective evaluation of information
- problem-solvingAddressing challenges methodically
- devil's advocateOne who argues against
- stress testingEvaluating capacity under extreme conditions
- gap analysisComparing actual to desired
blind spots · constructive criticism · alternative perspectives · failure modes · edge cases
Authorized security vulnerability assessment
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- reconnaissanceInformation-gathering before action
- enumerationSequential listing of items
- privilege escalationGaining unauthorized higher permissions
lateral movement · persistence · command and control · rules of engagement · reporting · remediation
war games
Simulated combat training
- opposing forcePower working against another
- combat trainingMilitary fighting instruction
- reconnaissanceInformation-gathering before action
penetration testing
Authorized security vulnerability assessment
- ethical hackingAuthorized security vulnerability testing
- exploitNotable act or abuse
- intrusion detectionSpotting unauthorized access attempts
zero-day · forensics · countermeasures · risk assessment · white hat · bug bounty · social engineering
critical thinking
Objective evaluation of information
- problem-solvingAddressing challenges methodically
- devil's advocateOne who argues against
- stress testingEvaluating capacity under extreme conditions
gap analysis · blind spots · constructive criticism · alternative perspectives · failure modes · edge cases
penetration test
Authorized security vulnerability assessment
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- reconnaissanceInformation-gathering before action
- enumerationSequential listing of items
privilege escalation · lateral movement · persistence · command and control · rules of engagement · reporting · remediation
- team designationsfirst string, second string, varsity, junior varsity, starting lineup
- cybersecurityantivirus, malware, firewall, firewalls, encryption
- Hackershacker, black hat, cracker, script kiddie, hacktivist
- security professionalssecurity analyst, security consultant, security engineer, security researcher, security guard
- hackinghacker, exploit, hacking, dictionary attack, backdoor
- Security Auditssystem audit, audit trail, audit log, audit report, penetration test
red, team, reds, redder, reddest, redden, reddish, redness, teams