Red Teaming vs. Penetration Testing: What’s the Difference?

Linux may not get as many cyberattacks as Windows, but it’s by no means invulnerable to them. A report published by Kaspersky in May 2025 revealed that the number of attacks on Linux systems almost tripled in 4Q 2023 from 1Q 2023. The figure slightly decreased at the start of 2025 but was still twice as many.

Although Windows and Mac will continue to eclipse Linux in market share, Linux is slowly but surely growing its piece of the pie. One estimate forecasts that, at its current rate, its share will be on track to reach 5% by February this year. However, just as with Windows, Linux users should expect more attacks as the system gains popularity.

Regardless of the situation, beefing up your cybersecurity is a must. This isn’t simply about investing in state-of-the-art cybersecurity solutions but also ensuring the entire system is a tough nut to crack even for the most notorious hackers, known as offensive security testing. Security experts put it to the test in two ways: red teaming exercises and penetration testing.

What is Red Teaming?

Red teaming is to cybersecurity as opposing forces (OPFOR) is to military readiness. As the term suggests, this approach involves “red teams” or group of ethical hackers initiating an attack simulation against a target infrastructure. Naturally, they aren’t out to steal sensitive data but point out vulnerabilities that actual cybercriminals can use to their advantage.

It stands to reason that red teaming in cyber security features “blue teams,” represented by the client business’s IT team. There’s also a “purple team,” which isn’t exactly a team but a process where both teams can communicate and collaborate, as well as deliver the results to stakeholders to urge further improvement to their overall security posture.

Unlike penetration testing, red teaming establishes a likely attack scenario with the red team posing as adversaries. Its members, while not necessarily former cybercriminals themselves, take time to understand the various ways attacks occur. As such, the team employs a wide range of attacks, from brute forcing to social engineering.

As it’s scenario-based, red teaming offers a more realistic insight into the infrastructure’s overall security. IT teams can find such information valuable in practicing certain security measures to better protect the system, even from threats previously unknown.

The method isn’t without its drawbacks, however. Red teaming can be expensive and take time to prepare. On top of that, security experts don’t recommend performing this without penetration testing first, as red teaming doesn’t always cover all bases.

What is Penetration Testing?

The fine line between red teaming and penetration testing seems to grow blurry with each cybersecurity innovation. That said, enough distinctions between the two still exist.

Similar to red teaming, penetration testing (also called a pen test) involves ethical hackers launching a mock attack against a target system and uncovering any critical vulnerabilities. However, unlike red teaming, the hackers in this case don’t have specific objectives. They aim to test the system for flaws, regardless of the attack’s viability in a real-world scenario.

Another difference is the length of time. Penetration testing typically occurs across a long timeframe and is continuous (though red teaming is also getting there with its continuous automated red teaming). These tests last several days or weeks.

One key advantage of a pen test is its lower cost per test. It doesn’t require the same level of complexity as red teaming, let alone the utilization of a fully-fledged red team. Its short testing window enables IT teams to constantly improve their cybersecurity.

Sadly, the lower cost per pen test can bite businesses when they realize they must do it often. As mentioned earlier, a business can’t proceed with red teaming without enough pen testing. It must have the basics in place, from patching to threat detection.

Red Teaming vs. Pentesting

While both red teaming and penetration testing serve crucial roles in offensive security testing, they differ significantly in their approach, scope, and objectives. Understanding these distinctions helps organizations determine which methodology best suits their security assessment needs.

Red teaming operates as a comprehensive adversarial simulation, focusing on real-world attack scenarios and employing multiple attack vectors simultaneously. These exercises typically span several months and involve sophisticated social engineering, physical security testing, and network exploitation attempts. Red teams often work without the knowledge of the organization’s security team, mimicking genuine threat actors who seek to remain undetected.

In contrast, penetration testing follows a more structured and focused approach, systematically examining specific systems, applications, or network segments for security vulnerabilities. While pen testers may use similar tools and techniques as red teams, their scope is usually more confined and their presence known to the organization’s IT staff.

The following table outlines the key differences between these two security assessment methodologies:

Organizations should view these methodologies as complementary rather than competitive. While penetration testing helps maintain a strong security foundation through regular vulnerability discovery and remediation, red teaming validates the effectiveness of an organization’s overall security program under real-world conditions. The choice between the two often depends on an organization’s security maturity level, regulatory requirements, and specific security objectives.

Vulnerability Assessment: The First Step

While penetration testing should precede a red team exercise, it isn’t really the first step. To determine how threats may exploit your system’s vulnerabilities, you need to identify the vulnerabilities—confirmed or potential—first.  

This is where a vulnerability assessment (also known as vulnerability analysis) comes in. The process detects backdoors and other exploits in the system using automated scanning tools, identifies the root causes, and gauges their risk level. Sometimes, it involves pen testing to spot vulnerabilities that automated scans might have missed.

Conducting a vulnerability assessment benefits businesses in long-term savings because it informs them of the solutions they actually need. Pen tests and red team exercises can also be more targeted when planning them using the assessment’s findings.

Conclusion

Red teaming and penetration testing are both concerned with gauging how secure your IT infrastructure is against today’s threats. However, red teaming typically occurs after a lot of penetration testing has been done. Nevertheless, neither procedure should ideally be done without a thorough vulnerability assessment.