The field of cybersecurity is ever-evolving, requiring professionals to stay ahead of emerging threats while defending against existing ones. Employers look for a blend of technical and soft skills, particularly in the areas of red teaming (offensive security) and blue teaming (defensive security). Below is an overview of the top skills that can set you apart in the competitive cybersecurity job market.

Red Teaming

Red teaming is a cybersecurity practice where a group of experts simulates adversarial attacks on an organization’s systems to test and evaluate its security measures. This process involves various activities such as penetration testing, social engineering, and vulnerability assessments. The goal is to identify weaknesses in the organization’s defenses by adopting the perspective of a potential attacker, allowing the organization to strengthen its security posture before an actual breach occurs. Let us do a deeper dive to check what comes in red teaming.

Reconnaissance

Reconnaissance in cybersecurity is the initial phase of an attack where an adversary gathers information about a target to identify potential vulnerabilities. This phase is crucial as it helps attackers understand the target’s network, infrastructure, and security posture, laying the groundwork for more advanced attacks. They say that it is crucial to spend more time on it and do it efficiently because this provides the ground for next attacks. An example of a tool shodan that can be used for reconnaissance.

shodan.io

Shodan is known as the “search engine for the Internet of Things,” Shodan can find devices connected to the internet, such as webcams, routers, and servers. An attacker might use Shodan to locate unsecured devices that can be easily compromised. A very popular use case of shodan is that it can find live cameras which are password protected or non protected. Below is the example of basic search query 

Query: product:”GoAhead”  has_screenshot:true

Result

Below result shows how badly it can affect the privacy of someone.

Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing

Vulnerability Assessment

A vulnerability assessment is a systematic process used to identify, evaluate, and prioritize security weaknesses within an organization’s IT infrastructure. This assessment involves scanning systems, networks, and applications for known vulnerabilities, such as outdated software, misconfigurations, or unpatched security flaws. The goal is to provide a comprehensive overview of potential risks, enabling organizations to address these issues before they can be exploited by attackers. Tools to use for this purpose can be

• Nessus
• Nexpose
• OpenVAS
• Nikto
• Netsparker also known as invicti
• Acunetix

A sample report’s summary generated by invicti is given below but in real the details are quite high.

Penetration Testing

Penetration testing (often referred to as pen testing) goes a step further by simulating an actual attack on the organization’s systems to exploit identified vulnerabilities. Unlike a vulnerability assessment, which only identifies potential weaknesses, penetration testing actively tests the effectiveness of security controls by attempting to breach them. This process is carried out by ethical hackers who use the same tools and techniques as real attackers but in a controlled and authorized manner. For example, after identifying a weak password policy through a vulnerability assessment, a penetration tester might use brute-force techniques to gain unauthorized access to a system. The insights gained from penetration testing are invaluable, as they demonstrate how a real-world attack could occur, allowing organizations to strengthen their defenses accordingly.

Penetration testing can be of 3 main types:

White Box Testing 

The tester has full knowledge of the system’s internal workings, including source code, architecture, and configurations.

Grey Box Testing

The tester has partial knowledge of the system, typically some internal information combined with an external perspective.

Black Box Testing

The tester has no prior knowledge of the system’s internal structure, focusing solely on external functionalities and behavior.

Best Tools/OS for Penetration Testing

• Kali linux
  • Nmap
  • Wireshark
  • Metasploit
  • John the Ripper
  • Sqlmap
• Burp Suite

Scripting & Malware Development

Scripting

Scripting in cybersecurity involves writing small programs, or scripts, to automate tasks, streamline processes, or exploit vulnerabilities. These scripts can be used for various purposes, such as automating network scans, extracting data, or executing repetitive tasks quickly. A short and quick python script to automate network scan:

Malware/Exploit Development

A malware/exploit developer is a specialized expert who creates custom malicious software tailored to simulate advanced cyber threats. Unlike typical malicious actors, the red team malware developer works within ethical boundaries, designing malware to test and challenge an organization’s defenses. This custom malware is used in controlled environments to evaluate how well an organization’s security measures can detect, respond to, and mitigate sophisticated attacks. Malware development is a sophisticated skill that requires

• Bypassing Security Measures
• Antivirus Evasion techniques
• Reverse Engineering

Source Code Analysis

Source code analysis is a critical technique for red teamers, involving the examination of an application’s source code to identify security vulnerabilities, design flaws, and implementation issues. This analysis provides deep insights into the inner workings of software, allowing red teamers to uncover weaknesses that may not be apparent through other testing methods. Let’s say we are provided a code block given below

If the employee knows how to perform source code analysis, he can identify that passwords are getting stored as plain texts and this can be identified as a vulnerability. Resolving this can save the users from leaking their passwords in case any attacker gets access to the database. In the end, it’s all about making it hard for the threat actors.

Mobile Applications Penetration Testing

Mobile testing is essential for red teamers because mobile devices have become a central part of personal and corporate life, often containing sensitive information and providing access to critical systems.

Techniques in Mobile Testing

Static Analysis

Examining the app’s code, configuration, and binaries without executing the application. This helps identify issues such as insecure code practices or hard coded secrets.

We can use tools like MobSF (Mobile Security Framework) to analyze APK files for security flaws in code or configuration.

Dynamic Analysis

Testing the application while it is running to observe its behavior and interactions with the environment. 

Using Frida/Objection and Burp Suite to intercept and modify requests between the app and its backend server to test for vulnerabilities like insecure data transmission

Phishing Campaigns & Trainings

Employers value employees who can conduct phishing campaigns for several reasons, primarily related to improving organizational security and training. These can provide

• Realistic Threat Simulation
• Employee Training and Awareness
• Continuous Improvement

Blue Teaming

Blue teaming is a critical aspect of cybersecurity focused on defending an organization’s IT infrastructure from cyber threats. Unlike red teams, which simulate attacks to uncover vulnerabilities, blue teams are dedicated to protecting systems through vigilant monitoring, threat detection, incident response, and the implementation of robust security measures. They work to ensure the security and resilience of networks and data, responding swiftly to incidents and continuously improving defensive strategies to guard against ever-evolving threats. Their proactive and reactive efforts are essential for maintaining a strong security posture and safeguarding sensitive information.

Below are a few important skills employers look for in blue team experts.

Risk Assessment

Risk assessment is a systematic process used to identify, evaluate, and prioritize potential risks that could negatively impact an organization or project. This process involves analyzing the likelihood of these risks occurring and the potential consequences, allowing organizations to develop strategies to mitigate or manage them effectively.

Process of Risk Assessment 

Let us understand it with a scenario that a financial institution plans to deploy a new online banking platform. The process will be as follows:

• Identify Risks: The team identifies potential risks, such as data breaches, unauthorized access, and system downtimes.
• Evaluate Risks: The team assesses each risk’s likelihood and impact. For instance, the risk of a data breach might be assessed as “high likelihood” with “severe impact.”
• Prioritize Risks: Based on the evaluation, the team prioritizes risks. The data breach risk is considered a top priority.
• Mitigate Risks: The institution implements robust security measures, such as multi-factor authentication and encryption, to mitigate the risk of a data breach.
• Monitor and Review: Continuous monitoring is set up to detect and respond to any emerging threats.

Threat Intelligence

Threat intelligence is the process of gathering, analyzing, and sharing information about potential or current security threats to help organizations understand and defend against cyber threats. It involves collecting data from various sources, identifying patterns and indicators of compromise, and using this information to proactively protect against cyberattacks.

An easy way to get alerted is by subscribing to services that provide this information. I.e. 

Have I Been Pwned

A platform that offers subscribing to a service where they notify you about any future pwnage.

NVD (National Vulnerability Database)

Offers alerts on newly discovered vulnerabilities in software and hardware. We can see that it has been updated very recently. Please check details at below link

https://nvd.nist.gov/

Hardening techniques 

Hardening techniques involve recognizing weaknesses in your organization’s security. An employee needs to have a strong grip on these because the end goal is to make it hard for the threat actors. For example,

An Example of Password Policy

Let us understand the hardening by a very simple and effective example. The developer created a web portal and users used to login with username & password only. How can we make it better?

1. Extend password policy – Introduce minimum password length 
2. Extend password policy – Introduce use of special characters & numbers
3. Extend password policy – Introduce 2FA
4. Extend safety measures of Application – Introduce prevention of brute forcing

Log Investigation & SIEM Implementation

Logging and log investigation are pivotal components of blue teaming that involve the collection, analysis, and interpretation of logs from various systems to detect and respond to potential security incidents.

On Windows, logs are managed through the Event Viewer, which tracks events such as system errors, application failures, and security-related activities. Linux systems use log files located in directories like /var/log to record similar events. 

Log Collection is important but no one can beat the functionality of SIEM solutions. Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solutions work by collecting, aggregating, and analyzing log data from various sources across an organization’s IT infrastructure, such as servers, firewalls, applications, and network devices. SIEM systems use this data to identify patterns, correlate events, and detect anomalies that may indicate security threats. Famous SIEM solutions are

• IBM QRadar 
• Splunk
• LogRhythm
• Microsoft Azure Sentinel
• Wazuh

Incident Response

Incident response is a critical discipline within cybersecurity focused on managing and mitigating the impact of security breaches and other incidents. The core objective of incident response is to swiftly detect, contain, and eradicate threats to minimize damage and restore normal operations.

Suppose a company experiences a ransomware attack that encrypts critical customer data. An incident response team will do the following:

Detection and Containment 

Quickly identify the ransomware through monitoring tools and isolate the affected systems to prevent the spread.

Eradication and Recovery

Remove the malicious software, restore data from backups, and verify system integrity.

Lessons Learned

After the incident, the team analyzes the breach to strengthen defenses and prevent future attacks.

Conclusion

In conclusion, organizations need both a red teaming and blue teaming skill set which is essential for building a robust cybersecurity defense. Red teamers, with their offensive strategies, expose vulnerabilities that could be exploited by real-world attackers, while blue teamers, with their defensive expertise, fortify systems against these threats. For individuals aspiring to work in these roles, developing these complementary skills is not just advantageous but essential. Mastery in both areas is probably not possible but it significantly enhances their employability and effectiveness in safeguarding against ever-evolving cyber threats.