Red Teaming in the Cloud Era
- August 22, 2025
Introduction
The rapid adoption of cloud-first strategies has transformed the way organizations operate. From startups to global enterprises, the cloud now powers critical workloads, facilitates remote collaboration, and enables unprecedented scalability. But this shift has also redrawn the threat landscape. Where once security teams could focus on defending a defined network perimeter, today’s environments are borderless, dynamic, and constantly evolving.
Every new SaaS integration, API connection, or cross-cloud deployment expands the attack surface. Misconfigurations, over-privileged accounts, and unmonitored data flows can open hidden doors for attackers. And in an era where threat actors are as agile as the technology itself, reactive defenses are no longer enough.
That’s where red teaming comes in. More than a checklist exercise or compliance requirement, red teaming is a full-spectrum simulation of real-world attacks, designed to expose gaps in people, processes, and technology before adversaries can exploit them.
In a cloud-first world, red teaming takes on new importance. It’s not about proving that security exists, but proving that it works when it matters most. In this blog, we will be exploring how organizations can adapt red teaming to meet the demands of the cloud era, ensuring their defenses are as modern and agile as the systems they protect.
- The New Reality of Cloud-First Environments
“Cloud-first” isn’t just a buzzword. It’s a fundamental shift in how organizations build, deploy, and manage technology. Modern IT environments are increasingly hybrid or multi-cloud, combining public clouds, private clouds, and on-premises systems. SaaS applications dominate day-to-day operations, and DevOps pipelines push updates at unprecedented speed. This fluidity enables innovation but also creates security blind spots that traditional models struggle to cover.
One major challenge is misconfiguration. Cloud resources spin up and down rapidly, often with default settings that inadvertently expose sensitive data. Identity sprawl adds another layer of risk: as users, applications, and service accounts proliferate across cloud platforms, managing privileges becomes complex. APIs, the backbone of cloud connectivity, are another critical vector, because improperly secured endpoints can give attackers a foothold that bypasses perimeter defenses entirely.
These environments also amplify the consequences of human error. A single misconfigured storage bucket or an over-privileged admin account can be exploited for lateral movement across multiple platforms. Combined with high-speed deployments, this means vulnerabilities may exist for hours or days before detection.
According to the World Bank, “The primary impact of cloud adoption on cybersecurity risk management is the transfer of specific responsibilities from the client organization to the cloud service provider (CSP) through the ‘shared responsibility model.’ While organizations migrating to the cloud retain some responsibilities for cybersecurity risk management—such as access controls—they can benefit from delegating some other key security functions to the CSP, depending on the type of cloud services used.”
In this landscape, security teams need more than static policies or periodic checks. They require proactive, scenario-based testing that mirrors real-world attacks. Red teaming in cloud-first environments addresses this need, simulating adversarial tactics across distributed systems, services, and identities, revealing risks that automated scans or traditional penetration tests often miss.
- Why Traditional Security Testing Falls Short
Traditional security testing methods like annual penetration tests or automated vulnerability scans were designed for relatively static environments. They focus on known threats, predefined network segments, and fixed assets. In cloud-first organizations, however, this approach often falls short. The dynamic nature of cloud infrastructure, namely rapidly deployed workloads, ephemeral servers, and constantly changing network topologies, means that vulnerabilities can appear and disappear between scheduled scans.
Another limitation lies in the scope of testing. Penetration tests tend to concentrate on perimeter defenses, network ports, or application-level flaws. While valuable, they rarely capture the complexity of cloud environments where attackers exploit identity management misconfigurations, API weaknesses, or inter-service trust relationships. Similarly, vulnerability scanners flag known software flaws but cannot emulate sophisticated attack chains, persistence mechanisms, or lateral movement across hybrid platforms.
Cloud-native systems introduce new pathways for attackers. Mismanaged access controls, improperly secured storage, and third-party service integrations all create entry points that conventional testing may overlook. Additionally, continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines accelerate changes, often outpacing static test cycles.
Red teaming addresses these gaps by simulating real-world adversarial behavior. Instead of merely cataloging flaws, red teams attempt to exploit them in context, revealing not only where vulnerabilities exist but also the potential impact on operations, data, and compliance. This proactive and scenario-driven approach ensures that cloud-first organizations understand their true risk landscape, rather than a theoretical snapshot based on automated reports.
- Red Teaming for the Cloud Era
Red teaming in the cloud era goes beyond traditional security assessments, simulating realistic attack scenarios across complex, distributed environments. Unlike conventional pen tests, which often focus on isolated applications or network segments, cloud red teaming examines how an attacker could exploit multiple layers. That includes anything from identity and access management to DevOps pipelines and cloud-native data stores.
In cloud-first environments, threats are not limited to the network perimeter. Attackers often aim for persistence, privilege escalation, and lateral movement across accounts, regions, or even separate cloud providers. Red teams mirror these strategies, testing how effectively organizations detect and respond to multi-step attack chains. For example, a simulated compromise might begin with a misconfigured API key, escalate through privilege misuse, and attempt lateral movement into sensitive storage or production workloads, all without causing an actual disruption.
Red teaming also considers integration points between on-premises and cloud systems, hybrid architectures, and SaaS applications. By evaluating these connections, teams can uncover gaps that conventional tests would miss. Automated scans might flag a misconfiguration, but only a red team can demonstrate how it could be leveraged in a realistic, multi-stage attack.
In an article published earlier this year by SAVVYCOM, it was explained that “red teaming exercises not only reveal vulnerabilities but also increase awareness among staff about potential security threats and the importance of strong cybersecurity practices. Through real-world simulation, organizations can verify whether their existing security measures are effective in thwarting attacks and protecting sensitive data stored in the cloud.”
Collaboration with blue teams is crucial. Red teams provide insights into attacker behavior, while defenders adjust detection rules, alerts, and response workflows in real time. This feedback loop not only improves security controls but also enhances team readiness, fostering a culture of adaptive defense.
Ultimately, cloud-focused red teaming turns static assessments into dynamic, actionable intelligence. It ensures organizations don’t just know where vulnerabilities exist. They can actually understand how attackers could exploit them, what impact that might have, and how defenses can be strengthened continuously. In today’s fast-paced cloud landscape, this approach is essential, rather than optional.
- The Compliance and Regulatory Angle in the Cloud
As organizations migrate critical workloads to cloud-first environments, they face not only technical risks but also compliance obligations. Frameworks such as ISO 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA, and GDPR require businesses to demonstrate that security controls are effective and that sensitive data is properly protected. Red teaming plays a pivotal role in bridging the gap between regulatory requirements and real-world security.
Traditional audits and checklists confirm that controls exist, but they rarely test whether those controls hold up under a sophisticated, multi-stage attack. Cloud red teaming fills this gap by simulating scenarios that could lead to compliance violations, such as unauthorized access to personal data, insecure API exposure, or improper handling of sensitive workloads. The findings not only strengthen defenses but also provide tangible evidence for auditors and regulators that security measures are both implemented and effective.
Moreover, red teaming can help organizations prioritize remediation efforts. By demonstrating which vulnerabilities present the greatest operational or regulatory risk, security teams can allocate resources efficiently, reducing both the likelihood of breaches and potential non-compliance penalties.
For organizations subject to frequent audits or operating in highly regulated industries, integrating red teaming into the compliance workflow turns a mandatory exercise into a strategic advantage. It allows teams to proactively identify and address weaknesses, proving adherence to regulatory standards while simultaneously improving the organization’s overall security posture.
- Unique Challenges of Cloud Red Teaming
Red teaming in cloud-first environments introduces complexities that go far beyond traditional on-premises testing:
- Shared Responsibility Model
One of the biggest challenges is the shared responsibility model. Cloud providers handle some aspects of security, such as physical infrastructure and underlying platform integrity, but organizations remain responsible for configuration, access control, and data protection. Misunderstanding this division can lead to gaps in testing and overlooked vulnerabilities.
- Ephemeral Infrastructure
Ephemeral infrastructure is another challenge. Cloud workloads often spin up and down dynamically, meaning that systems under test may not exist long enough for traditional assessments. Red teams must adapt by using continuous monitoring, automated discovery, and rapid testing cycles to ensure coverage of transient resources.
- Serverless and Containerized Environments
Serverless and containerized environments add extra layers of complexity. These platforms abstract away underlying systems, so attackers, and also red teams for that matter, must focus on application logic, permissions, and API integrations rather than conventional network or host-level attacks. Traditional attack methods may not apply, requiring creativity and specialized knowledge of cloud-native services.
- Cloud Providers
Cloud providers also impose limitations on testing. Many services have restrictions on brute-force attempts, automated scanning, or high-volume probing to prevent disruptions. Red teams must navigate these constraints carefully to avoid affecting production workloads while still uncovering meaningful vulnerabilities.
- Cross-Cloud Integrations
Finally, cross-cloud integrations and multi-tenant architectures complicate lateral movement analysis. Red teams must understand the interaction between services, regions, and tenants to identify potential escalation paths that attackers could exploit.
Successfully addressing these challenges requires a combination of technical skill, strategic planning, and careful coordination with cloud and security operations teams. The payoff is significant: insights that drive stronger defenses, faster detection, and resilient systems capable of withstanding sophisticated, real-world attacks.
- Building a Cloud-Ready Red Team Program
Designing a red team tailored for cloud-first environments requires a strategic approach that combines technical expertise, structured processes, and close collaboration with existing security teams. According to the Google Cloud team “the main point is for the red team to emulate the same behaviors a real threat actor would use in a real-world scenario to gain a foothold and remain undetected. Identifying vulnerabilities and other limitations can help us zero in on the specific technical elements that make attacks successful, so we can extract them, study them, and implement solutions that make them less effective.”
The first step is defining clear objectives. Are you testing identity management, access controls, API security, or cross-cloud integrations? Establishing measurable goals is crucial, including: improving mean time to detection, validating incident response procedures, or identifying privilege escalation paths. That way, every engagement will deliver actionable insights.
Focusing on assembling the right skill set should be next. Cloud red teams require expertise in cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud), container orchestration, serverless architecture, and DevOps pipelines. Knowledge of automated tools, scripting, and cloud-native security controls is essential. Additionally, team members must stay current on emerging attack techniques, as the cloud landscape evolves rapidly.
Tooling and infrastructure are equally important. Red teams should leverage a mix of commercial, open-source, and custom-built solutions for reconnaissance, attack simulation, and reporting. Cloud-native logging, monitoring, and automation tools can enhance testing without disrupting production workloads.
Collaboration with blue teams is also critical. Joint planning, real-time feedback, and structured debriefs should ensure that lessons learned are immediately actionable. Additionally, shared KPIs and dashboards can help track improvements over time, creating a feedback loop that continuously strengthens defenses.
The final step to building a cloud-ready red team would be establishing a cadence of testing. Cloud environments change frequently, so red team exercises should be ongoing rather than one-off events. Continuous assessments aligned with deployment cycles, critical system updates, and threat intelligence ensure defenses remain robust against evolving attack patterns.
A well-designed cloud-ready red team program is more than a security exercise. We’re talking about a dynamic, iterative system that empowers organizations to proactively uncover vulnerabilities, enhance resilience, and ensure that their cloud-first strategy is both secure and reliable.
- Measuring Success in Cloud Red Team Engagements
A red team exercise in a cloud-first environment is only as valuable as the insights it produces and the improvements it drives. To ensure meaningful outcomes, organizations need clear metrics for evaluating success.
- Mean Time to Detection
One key metric is Mean Time to Detection (MTTD). It refers to how quickly the blue team identifies a simulated breach. A shorter MTTD indicates that monitoring and alerting systems are working effectively. Closely tied to this is Mean Time to Response (MTTR), which measures how quickly incidents are contained and mitigated once detected.
- Response Effectiveness
Response effectiveness goes beyond speed; it assesses whether the actions taken truly neutralize the threat, prevent escalation, and restore normal operations without introducing new risks.
- Resilience Over Time
In cloud contexts, resilience over time is another important measure. This involves tracking whether vulnerabilities found in previous exercises remain fixed and whether defensive processes adapt to evolving attack techniques. Improvement in detection coverage, such as identifying threats across multiple cloud platforms, APIs, and services, also signals progress.
- Business Impact Metrics
Finally, some business impact metrics, such as reduced downtime risk or demonstrated compliance readiness should be considered. When red team results directly align with business continuity goals, they carry more weight with leadership.
By combining technical KPIs with business-aligned outcomes, organizations can measure not just the success of a single engagement, but the long-term strengthening of their cloud security posture.
- Conclusion
The shift to cloud-first environments has redefined the security landscape, expanding attack surfaces and introducing challenges that traditional security testing alone cannot address. In this new reality, red teaming offers more than just a way to uncover vulnerabilities; it provides a dynamic, real-world evaluation of how well an organization can detect, respond to, and recover from sophisticated attacks.
For cloud-native and hybrid infrastructures, red teaming bridges the gap between theory and practice. It tests not just technical defenses but also the coordination between people, processes, and technology. By simulating adversaries in realistic scenarios, organizations gain actionable insights that improve both security readiness and compliance posture.
Importantly, and this cannot be stressed enough, red teaming is not a one-off event. Its value compounds over time, especially when findings are tracked, lessons are applied, and defenses are iteratively refined. In doing so, businesses don’t just react to threats, but build resilience into their operations.
In an era where digital trust is as valuable as any asset, proactive measures like cloud-focused red teaming are strategic necessities. The organizations that embrace this mindset will be better positioned to safeguard their data, maintain customer confidence, and thrive in an increasingly hostile cyber landscape.
SOURCES:
https://savvycomsoftware.com/blog/red-teaming-in-the-cloud-challenges-and-best-practices/
https://cloud.google.com/transform/how-google-does-it-red-teaming-at-scale
