/red-team

name: "red-team"
description: "Use when planning or executing authorized red team engagements, attack path analysis, or offensive security simulations. Covers MITRE ATT&CK kill-chain planning, technique scoring, choke point identification, OPSEC risk assessment, and crown jewel targeting."

Red Team

Red team engagement planning and attack path analysis skill for authorized offensive security simulations. This is NOT vulnerability scanning (see security-pen-testing) or incident response (see incident-response) — this is about structured adversary simulation to test detection, response, and control effectiveness.

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Table of Contents

• [Overview](#overview)
• [Engagement Planner Tool](#engagement-planner-tool)
• [Kill-Chain Phase Methodology](#kill-chain-phase-methodology)
• [Technique Scoring and Prioritization](#technique-scoring-and-prioritization)
• [Choke Point Analysis](#choke-point-analysis)
• [OPSEC Risk Assessment](#opsec-risk-assessment)
• [Crown Jewel Targeting](#crown-jewel-targeting)
• [Attack Path Methodology](#attack-path-methodology)
• [Workflows](#workflows)
• [Anti-Patterns](#anti-patterns)
• [Cross-References](#cross-references)

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Overview

What This Skill Does

This skill provides the methodology and tooling for **red team engagement planning** — building structured attack plans from MITRE ATT&CK technique selection, access level, and crown jewel targets. It scores techniques by effort and detection risk, assembles kill-chain phases, identifies choke points, and flags OPSEC risks.

Distinction from Other Security Skills

| Skill | Focus | Approach | |-------|-------|----------| | **red-team** (this) | Adversary simulation | Offensive — structured attack planning and execution | | security-pen-testing | Vulnerability discovery | Offensive — systematic exploitation of specific weaknesses | | threat-detection | Finding attacker activity | Proactive — detect TTPs in telemetry | | incident-response | Active incident management | Reactive — contain and investigate confirmed incidents |

Authorization Requirement

**All red team activities described here require written authorization.** This includes a signed Rules of Engagement (RoE) document, defined scope, and explicit executive approval. The `engagement_planner.py` tool will not generate output without the `--authorized` flag. Unauthorized use of these techniques is illegal under the CFAA, Computer Misuse Act, and equivalent laws worldwide.

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Engagement Planner Tool

The `engagement_planner.py` tool builds a scored, kill-chain-ordered attack plan from technique selection, access level, and crown jewel targets.

# Basic engagement plan — external access, specific techniques
python3 scripts/engagement_planner.py \
  --techniques T1059,T1078,T1003 \
  --access-level external \
  --authorized --json

# Internal network access with crown jewel targeting
python3 scripts/engagement_planner.py \
  --techniques T1059,T1078,T1021,T1550,T1003 \
  --access-level internal \
  --crown-jewels "Database,Active Directory,Payment Systems" \
  --authorized --json

# Credentialed (assumed breach) scenario with scale
python3 scripts/engagement_planner.py \
  --techniques T1059,T1078,T1021,T1550,T1003,T1486,T1048 \
  --access-level credentialed \
  --crown-jewels "Domain Controller,S3 Data Lake" \
  --target-count 50 \
  --authorized --json

# List all 29 supported MITRE ATT&CK techniques
python3 scripts/engagement_planner.py --list-techniques

Access Level Definitions

| Level | Starting Position | Techniques Available | |-------|------------------|----------------------| | external | No internal access — internet only | External-facing techniques only (T1190, T1566, etc.) | | internal | Network foothold — no credentials | Internal recon + lateral movement prep | | credentialed | Valid credentials obtained | Full kill chain including priv-esc, lateral movement, impact |

Exit Codes

| Code | Meaning | |------|---------| | 0 | Engagement plan generated successfully | | 1 | Missing authorization or invalid technique | | 2 | Scope violation — technique outside access-level constraints |

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Kill-Chain Phase Methodology

The engagement planner organizes techniques into eight kill-chain phases and orders the execution plan accordingly.

Kill-Chain Phase Order

| Phase | Order | MITRE Tactic | Examples | |-------|-------|--------------|----------| | Reconnaissance | 1 | TA0043 | T1595, T1596, T1598 | | Resource Development | 2 | TA0042 | T1583, T1588 | | Initial Access | 3 | TA0001 | T1190, T1566, T1078 | | Execution | 4 | TA0002 | T1059, T1047, T1204 | | Persistence | 5 | TA0003 | T1053, T1543, T1136 | | Privilege Escalation | 6 | TA0004 | T1055, T1548, T1134 | | Credential Access | 7 | TA0006 | T1003, T1110, T1558 | | Lateral Movement | 8 | TA0008 | T1021, T1550, T1534 | | Collection | 9 | TA0009 | T1074, T1560, T1114 | | Exfiltration | 10 | TA0010 | T1048, T1041, T1567 | | Impact | 11 | TA0040 | T1486, T1491, T1498 |

Phase Execution Principles

Each phase must be completed before advancing to the next unless the engagement scope specifies assumed breach (skip to a later phase). Do not skip persistence before attempting lateral movement — persistence ensures operational continuity if a single foothold is detected and removed.

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Technique Scoring and Prioritization

Techniques are scored by effort (how hard to execute without detection) and prioritized in the engagement plan.

Effort Score Formula

effort_score = detection_risk × (len(prerequisites) + 1)

Lower effort score = easier to execute without triggering detection.

Technique Scoring Reference

| Technique | Detection Risk | Prerequisites | Effort Score | MITRE ID | |-----------|---------------|---------------|-------------|---------| | PowerShell execution | 0.7 | initial_access | 1.4 | T1059.001 | | Scheduled task persistence | 0.5 | execution | 1.0 | T1053.005 | | Pass-the-Hash | 0.6 | cr