Red Team &
Adversary Simulation
Test how your organisation responds to realistic attack scenarios. Red team and adversary simulation exercises go beyond standard testing - they assess detection, response, escalation, decision-making and control effectiveness. The goal is not to find every vulnerability. The goal is to understand whether an attacker could achieve a defined objective, and whether your organisation can detect and respond in time.
- Full red team exercises against agreed objectives
- Adversary simulation aligned to specific threat actor TTPs
- External, internal, identity and cloud attack-path simulation
- Phishing-led initial access where authorised
- Active Directory and Entra ID privilege escalation paths
- Ransomware precursor simulation
- Purple team exercises with your defensive team
- SIEM, EDR and response workflow validation
- Technical and executive debriefs with remediation roadmap
Real attacks test people, process and technology together.
Red team testing is a controlled exercise that simulates real attacker behaviour - reconnaissance, phishing where authorised, credential attacks, external access, lateral movement, cloud abuse and identity attacks - against agreed objectives. Adversary simulation tests your organisation against specific attacker techniques or threat-actor TTPs. Both are carefully scoped, approved and controlled.
What red team testing actually tells you.
Most organisations have security controls. Few have tested how those controls work together during a realistic attack.
Can an attacker gain initial access?
Can suspicious activity be detected early?
Are alerts being triaged correctly?
Can compromised credentials be abused?
Can an attacker move laterally?
Can privileged access be reached?
Are escalation paths clear?
Do response teams know what to do?
Are executives informed at the right time?
Pick the engagement that matches your maturity and objective.
Full Red Team
Quiet, objective-driven attack simulation against agreed targets. Best for organisations with established monitoring and response who want to test the full kill chain end-to-end.
Adversary Simulation
Focused testing against specific threat-actor TTPs, sector-relevant attack paths or scenarios drawn from your Threat Intelligence. Best when you want a targeted answer to a specific scenario.
Purple Team
Collaborative exercise where offensive and defensive teams work together. Focus is on learning, detection tuning and response improvement - not stealth.
Detection & Response Validation
Targeted activity to validate whether your SIEM, EDR, identity and cloud monitoring actually catch what they should. Pair with Detection & Response Readiness.
Scoped scenarios. Realistic objectives.
Each engagement is scoped around agreed objectives and safety controls.
Did your defenders see what we did?
RTCS assesses whether activity is visible across the controls you depend on - and whether alerts are triaged, escalated and acted on.
Findings feed directly into Detection & Response Readiness work and Threat Hunting hypotheses.
Realistic. Controlled. Authorised.
Red team testing must be controlled. Before testing begins, RTCS confirms scope, objectives, authorised activities, exclusions, testing windows, safety controls, points of contact, escalation process, stop conditions, evidence handling and reporting requirements - so testing is realistic while remaining safe and authorised.
Red Team vs Pentest
Penetration Testing
Finds and validates vulnerabilities in a defined scope. Broad coverage, depth on individual issues. See Penetration Testing & Offensive Security.
Red Team Testing
Tests whether an attacker can achieve an agreed objective and whether your organisation detects and responds. Narrow scope. Realistic kill chain. Tests people, process and technology together.
Plan to Improve
A practical, staged engagement that produces actionable findings - not theatrical reports.
Confirm objectives, scope, risks, rules of engagement and success criteria.
Perform controlled attack simulation using agreed techniques and scenarios.
Assess whether activity is detected, escalated and investigated by your team.
Confirm findings, remove noise and assess real-world impact.
Provide a clear technical and executive debrief.
Practical recommendations to improve controls, detections and response processes.
Who It's For & What You Receive
Who This Service Is For
- Already have baseline security controls in place
- Want to test detection and response capability
- Validate controls against realistic attack paths
- Have SIEM, EDR or monitoring function
- Need to test identity, cloud or internal attack paths
- Want to assess readiness before a serious incident
- Need board or executive-level assurance
- Want practical findings that improve operations
Typical Deliverables
- Red team / adversary simulation report
- Attack narrative & timeline of activity
- Objectives achieved and blocked
- Detection and response observations
- Technical evidence
- Control gaps
- Detection improvement recommendations
- Remediation roadmap
- Executive summary
- Technical debrief with your team
Where red team work connects to the rest of the program.
Penetration Testing →
Broad vulnerability and exploitability testing across web, API, network, AD, M365 and cloud.
Detection & Response Readiness →
Turn red team findings into permanent SIEM rules, EDR coverage and response improvement.
Proactive Threat Hunting →
Hunt for the techniques the red team used - and validate they would have been caught.
Threat Intelligence →
Drive adversary-simulation scenarios with sector-relevant TTPs and active campaigns.
Incident Response Readiness →
Validate IR playbooks and escalation paths against realistic attacker behaviour.
Identity & Access Management →
Close the privileged-access and identity attack paths the red team finds first.
Security Awareness Training →
Translate phishing and social-engineering findings into staff training and guidance.
Crisis Management →
Executive crisis exercises that follow on from a red team scenario.
Real attacks test people, process and technology together. Talk to us about a red team exercise, adversary simulation, purple team activity or detection and response validation engagement.
Common Questions
What is the difference between penetration testing and red team testing?
Penetration testing usually focuses on finding and validating vulnerabilities in a defined scope. Red team testing focuses on whether an attacker can achieve an agreed objective and whether the organisation can detect and respond.
Is red team testing safe?
Yes, when it is properly scoped and controlled. RTCS defines clear rules of engagement, exclusions, testing windows, escalation points and stop conditions before testing begins.
Can you run phishing simulations?
Yes. Phishing simulation can be included where explicitly authorised and appropriately scoped.
Can you test detection and response?
Yes. Red team and adversary simulation exercises can assess whether your SIEM, EDR, identity, cloud and response processes detect and respond to realistic activity.
What is a purple team exercise?
A purple team exercise is a collaborative exercise where offensive testing and defensive monitoring happen together. The focus is on improving detections, alerts and response processes.
Do we need a mature security team first?
Not always. Red team exercises are most useful when some monitoring and response capability exists. If maturity is lower, a purple team or Detection and Response Readiness review may be a better starting point.
Not sure what you need?
Use the enquiry form or email [email protected] with a brief summary. Include your organisation, the service area if known, and any timing requirements.