Red Teaming Revisited

Homeland Security Weekly

Summary:
This article takes a look at Red Teaming from the perspective of countering terrorism. According to Homeland Security Weekly, "It takes a thief to catch a thief. This is the Red Team Philosophy." There is a fine line, however, between creating a realistic scenario of value to the Intelligence Community (IC) and writing science fiction. The first step is employing people who are "detached" from the security environment of the target. This will ensure that the Red Team identifies true gaps in security, and not just easy fixes. Furthermore, the Red Team must recognize that terrorists are not simply crazy killers, but rational thinkers who plan, recon, train, and have the ability to successfully execute complicated operations. The article highlights 8 steps that the Red Team must analyze to successfully emulate a terrorist attack:

1. Target identification.

2. Intelligence acquisition (open source and social engineering).

3. Target surveillance to confirm or refute the intelligence.

4. Assessment of target attack plan.

5. Assessment of resource and tooling acquisition.

6. Rehearsal or training of the attack, including traveling to an unfamiliar environment and blending in with the target's surroundings.

7. The execution and its desired impact.

8. Planning and testing of the escape route.

The Red Team should always remember that terrorists will usually look for minimal exposure and contact with security; "the optimal attack is the one with the fewest obstacles." By making the Red Team assessment as realistic as possible, it will provide the most use in mitigating future threats. Furthermore, Red Teaming is not a one time exercise, but should be constantly applied to assess threats. "Red team assessments should serve as the starting point for implementing new or refining existing security practices. As practices are refined, additional red teaming evaluations should be utilized to continue this process and to address new threats or methodologies. Red teaming should be a continuing process with fresh eyes brought to bear on each evaluation (new eyes, new creative solutions)."

Homeland Security Employs Imagination

Washington Post, 18 June 2004

Summary:
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has developed a special program designed to think creatively as to how terrorists may attack the US. Known as the Analytic Red Cell office, DHS sought out various professionals to form a "Red Team" that would serve to "think outside the box" as to new ways we may be targeted by terrorists. Various team members were "futurists, philosophers, software programmers, a pop musician and a thriller writer"

According to the article, "Typically the Red Cell team assembles 20 or so participants for a day-long session at leased offices in the Washington area. Each session divides into smaller groups and takes up a different question, such as: If you were a terrorist, how would you target the G-8 economic summit, held last week in Georgia? Another recent topic was: Why haven't terrorists hit the United States since Sept. 11, 2001?" After the Red Cell comes to its conclusions, the final reports are forwarded to intelligence analysts throughout the Intelligence Community (IC), who vet the results and compare them to actual threats and information. "Most Red Cell reports note they are 'alternative assessments intended to provoke thought and stimulate discussion'."

This technique is not new to the IC; the CIA and Pentagon have used the method since the Cold War to expand their thinking on on how the Soviets and other foreign militaries may attack the US. The reasoning behind the method is to get non-intelligence professionals to tackle intelligence related issues. According to Brad Meltzer, a thriller writer, when he was appraoched, "They said, 'We want people who think differently from the ones we have on staff.' "