Red Team vs. Tiger Team

29th July is "Tiger Day". I thought this would be a good opportunity to mention Tiger Teams in cybersecurity.

Purpose:

• Red teams: Simulate real-world cyber attacks to test an organization's security posture, identify vulnerabilities, and assess incident response capabilities.
• Tiger teams: Assembled to solve specific, complex cybersecurity problems or respond to major security incidents.

Scope:

• Red teams: Focus on comprehensive security assessments, including network penetration, social engineering, and physical security testing.
• Tiger teams: May tackle a wider range of issues, from incident response to developing new security solutions or strategies.

Duration:

• Red teams: Often operate continuously or on a regular schedule (e.g., annual assessments) to provide ongoing security evaluation.
• Tiger teams: Typically formed for a limited time to address a particular crisis or project, disbanding once the objective is achieved.

Composition:

• Red teams: Usually consist of ethical hackers, penetration testers, and security experts who emulate threat actors.
• Tiger teams: May include a diverse group of experts such as forensic analysts, malware researchers, network specialists, and even non-technical stakeholders, depending on the problem.

Methodology:

• Red teams: Use adversarial tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to test defenses, often without the knowledge of the internal security team (known as the blue team).
• Tiger teams: Employ collaborative problem-solving approaches, often working closely with internal teams and stakeholders.

Objectives:

• Red teams: Aim to uncover security weaknesses, test detection and response capabilities, and provide a realistic assessment of the organization's security posture.
• Tiger teams: Focus on resolving specific security challenges, developing new security strategies, or improving existing security processes and technologies.

Reporting:

• Red teams: Produce detailed reports on vulnerabilities found, successful attack vectors, and recommendations for improving security.
• Tiger teams: Generate solutions, action plans, or new security implementations based on their problem-solving efforts.

Integration with security operations:

• Red teams: Often operate independently to maintain objectivity, though they may coordinate with blue teams for certain exercises.
• Tiger teams: Usually work more closely with existing security operations, integrating their efforts with ongoing processes and teams.

In practice, organizations might use both approaches. For example, a red team exercise might uncover a significant vulnerability that a tiger team is then assembled to address. Both types of teams contribute to enhancing an organization's overall cybersecurity posture, albeit through different methods and focuses.