red teaming (noun) [Word Notes]

Understanding Red Teaming

Red teaming is defined as the practice of mimicking known adversary behaviors to assess an organization’s cybersecurity defenses. This approach allows a designated group, known as the red team, to actively attempt to breach the digital infrastructure maintained by the blue team, which embodies the organization's defensive posture. Historically, the origins of this practice trace back to the concept of a devil's advocate in the late 16th century, where an opposing force was introduced to rigorously evaluate candidates for sainthood in the Catholic Church. The term red team emerged in the 19th century from military training exercises conducted by the Prussian army, where different groups would simulate offensive and defensive operations in a competitive environment, with the blue team representing their own forces and the red team representing the enemy.