Red team physical operations are comprehensive adversary simulation engagements that combine physical intrusion, social engineering, and technical exploitation to test an organization's complete security posture. Unlike focused penetration tests, red team operations pursue specific objectives while testing the full spectrum of defensive capabilities including detection, response, and communication.
Red team physical operations follow a military-inspired methodology. Planning phase defines objectives (access server room, exfiltrate specific data, plant implant device), identifies rules of engagement, and conducts extensive reconnaissance. The operational phase combines techniques as needed: social engineering for initial facility access, lock picking or RFID cloning for restricted areas, technical exploitation of accessible systems, and physical device placement. Operations may span days or weeks with multiple entry attempts using different approaches. The team tests whether security personnel detect the intrusion, how quickly the organization responds, whether communication chains function, and whether the incident is properly escalated. All activities are documented for the comprehensive report that drives security improvements.
Red team operations provide the most realistic assessment of organizational security because they mirror actual adversary behavior. Focused tests evaluate individual controls in isolation, but red team operations reveal how those controls function together under realistic attack conditions. The findings frequently reveal systemic issues in security culture, incident response procedures, and cross-team communication that component-level testing cannot surface.
CDA positions red team physical operations as a capstone capability within the SPH domain at the C-COMMAND campaign tier. Theater operations simulate multi-day adversary engagements. Our methodology reflects real-world threat actor behavior because CDA operators learn to think like adversaries rather than checklist auditors, embodying our principle that we operate rather than monitor.