Offensive Information Warfare, Intelligence Gathering and Direct Action Operations Using Red Teams - Part 1

About a year ago I wrote a paper entitled Offensive Information warfare, Intelligence Gathering and Direct Action Operations Using Red Teams, I posted the table of contents in the blog a while ago.

That paper haven't seen the light of the day, yet. However many people asked about this so I decided to write a six part article about this that will provide the basic ideas on each part of the paper.

Offensive Information Warfare and Red Teams

It’s 0100. The moon sits high in the sky over the target’s facility. Four men dressed in BDUs and gear are sneaking in by the tree line, about 50 meters outside the building outer perimeter fence. Pausing occasionally to peer through night vision monoculars to scan the perimeter. They make it to the final penetration position.

One of the men keys a mike and relays their position to the TOC (Tactical Operations Center) where another team is ready for the next phase of the operation. This team is comprised of highly skilled digital operators with backgrounds in computer hacking, intelligence, electronics and networking.

Using red teams to track criminals

The use of hacking (I hate the *ethical hacking* name) techniques can be used for more than penetration testing and red team assessments. In one occasion, my team helped a law enforcement agency in the collection of information that lead to the capture of a criminal.

The owner of a company contacted the authorities about a former employee that took with him very sensitive and valuable proprietary information. They have some proof of it and were hoping the authorities could help locating and acquiring the proof he needed to take this person to court.

After a few months of not going anywhere the company contacted us to see whether we could help the law enforcement officials locate and track the former employee (I'll refer to him as Bob). We were given all the information, including some really nice open source intelligence collected by the good guys. Two pieces of information gave us a good lead: Bob's personal email and his social media information.

Offensive Information Warfare, Intelligence Gathering and Direct Action Operations Using Red Teams

I posted this before, but since I have finished the paper titled Offensive information warfare, intelligence gathering and direct action operations using Red Teams, I thought it'd be good to post it again. I'll post a link to the paper once I have it properly formatted and it's been cleared for viewing.

My intension with this paper is to open the door for the use of Red Teams, the Red Team Mindset and Red Teams related techniques in the current war on terrorism, combating criminals and generally assisting special operations and law enforcement.

Red team support of SOF in the war on terrorism - part 2

The trip to the infil point was uneventful. The blacked-out Hilux took the rocks on the road pretty well, however the operators on the back of the small pickup truck felt every one of them.

Once they reached the infil point, the vehicle slowed down just enough for them to jump out and seek cover by the side of the road. There they stayed for half an hour, completely still. Hearing. Smelling. Sensing.

Red Team Support of SOF in the War on Terrorism

The building was brighter than the sun. It was 0200, but all offices seem to be occupied, at least when peering through the night scope from 100 meters away.

The three figures moved slowly, deliberately. Placing heels first and sensing with the tip of the foot for anything that might make noise before placing the full body weight on the front foot. Each step was calculated. Each step brought them closer to the target. Total darkness and total silence. No lights allowed and the communication between the team members was via hand signals, when needed. They have been working together for a long time so each person knew what to do and what the other should do.