The Red and Blue Teams

The Red/Blue Team exercise is not something new. The original concept was introduced a long time ago during World War I and like many terms used in information security, originated in the military. The general idea was to demonstrate the effectiveness of an attack through simulations.

For example, in 1932 Rear Admiral Harry E. Yarnell demonstrated the efficacy of an attack on Pearl Harbor. Nine years later, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, it was possible to compare and see how similar tactics were used. The effectiveness of simulations based on real tactics that might be used by the adversary is well known in the military. The University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies has specialized courses just to prepare Red Team participants and leaders.

Although the concept of a “Red Team” in the military is broader, the intelligence support via threat emulation is similar to what a cybersecurity Red Team is trying to accomplish...