OT Red Team Operations
Objective-based adversary emulation that tests whether your people, processes and technology can detect and stop an attacker working toward your control systems.
Test Your Defenses the Way Attackers Target Critical Infrastructure
Most serious OT incidents do not start on the plant floor. They start with a phishing email, a stolen VPN credential or a compromised vendor laptop, followed by weeks of quiet movement through the corporate network until the attacker finds a path into the control environment. A penetration test shows which doors are open. An OT red team operation shows whether anyone notices when an adversary walks through them.
White Knight Labs OT Red Team Operations emulate the tactics of threat groups known to target industrial environments. Our operators work toward agreed objectives, such as reaching an engineering workstation, obtaining historian data or demonstrating the ability to issue commands to a controller, while your security operations center, IT team and plant staff respond as they would to a real intrusion.
What an OT Red Team Operation Tests
Initial Access and Persistence
We gain a foothold through realistic entry points, including phishing, exposed services, credential attacks and third-party access, and establish persistence in the same way real threat actors do.
IT to OT Pivoting
We map and exploit the trust relationships between the business network and the control environment: jump hosts, shared Active Directory, dual-homed systems, historian replication and file transfer paths.
Control Layer Objectives
Once inside the OT network, we work toward pre-agreed objectives on engineering workstations, HMIs and servers. Any interaction with controllers or field devices is limited to what has been approved in advance, and is often demonstrated in a test environment rather than on production equipment.
Detection and Response
We record every action with timestamps so that your SOC, OT monitoring tools and plant teams can compare what happened with what they saw. Gaps in visibility, alert triage and escalation between IT and operations are among the most useful findings of any red team.
Safety Controls Built Into Every Operation
Red teaming in OT requires more planning than a standard enterprise engagement. Before the operation begins, we agree on rules of engagement with your operations leadership, including prohibited systems and actions, safe hours, a trusted agent who knows the engagement is under way, and immediate stop procedures. Our operators maintain contact with the trusted agent throughout and pause if plant conditions change.
Threat-Informed Scenarios
Scenarios are built from threat intelligence relevant to your industry and region and mapped to MITRE ATT&CK for Enterprise and MITRE ATT&CK for ICS. Common scenarios include ransomware operators seeking to force a production shutdown, state-aligned actors pre-positioning in utility networks, and insiders or contractors misusing legitimate remote access.
Engagement Process
Planning and Rules of Engagement
We define objectives, scope, safety boundaries, communication channels and success criteria with your security and operations leadership.
Threat Profiling and Reconnaissance
We build a threat profile for your organization and gather open-source intelligence on staff, vendors, exposed infrastructure and technology.
Operation Execution
Our operators carry out the campaign over an agreed period, moving from initial access toward OT objectives while documenting every step.
Purple Team Replay
After the operation, we walk your defenders through the attack timeline and, where useful, replay key techniques so detections can be built and tested.
Reporting and Debrief
You receive an executive summary, a detailed attack narrative, detection gap analysis and a prioritized remediation roadmap.
What You Receive
Executive summary describing operational and safety risk in business terms
Full attack path narrative with timestamps and evidence
Detection and response timeline comparing attacker actions with defender visibility
Findings mapped to MITRE ATT&CK for ICS or other requested regulatory requirements
Prioritized recommendations for segmentation, identity, monitoring and response
Sleep better at night
RISK REDUCTION
Our risk reduction strategy melds unparalleled technical acumen with a client-focused approach to deliver targeted, cost-effective, and accessible solutions that fortify your organization against the ever- evolving cyber threat landscape.
BUSINESS INTEGRITY
We leverage our cybersecurity expertise to safeguard your business integrity, ensuring you operate securely, move forward confidently, and build trust in an interconnected digital world.
DATA PROTECTION
We deploy cutting-edge cybersecurity measures and personalized strategies to offer unwavering data protection, reinforcing our commitment to preserving your company’s invaluable digital assets.
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