Red Teaming & Adversary Simulation: Test Whether You Can Detect and Stop a Real Attack
A penetration test asks "what is vulnerable?" A red team asks "could a determined attacker reach our crown jewels, and would we notice?" Our red team plays a realistic adversary with a business goal, such as moving money, stealing customer data or reaching production. It uses any agreed route, while your defenders work as they normally would.
Mutex Systems runs goal-based, intelligence-led engagements in the style of CBEST and TIBER-EU, mapped to MITRE ATT&CK. Every engagement ends with a joint purple-team replay, so your SOC learns exactly where detection worked and where it failed.
Or call our London office on 020 3307 529901Why it matters now
The risk behind this service
Based on incidents and figures in our UK & Europe threat report.
- Many 2026 breaches were found only when data appeared on a leak site. A red team measures how long an intruder stays unseen in your estate.
- Financial regulators increasingly expect threat-led testing. DORA requires it of significant EU financial entities, and the Bank of England runs CBEST.
- Money spent on SOC tooling needs proof that it works. Red teaming tests people, process and technology together.
Who this is for
- Banks, insurers and payment firms with a mature SOC
- Organisations that already run annual penetration tests and want the next level
- Boards wanting evidence that security investment detects real attacks
- Firms preparing for DORA threat-led penetration testing
- Companies with valuable intellectual property or customer data
- Critical infrastructure and telecom operators
02Services
What we deliver
Full-Scope Red Team
Multi-week, goal-based engagement across digital, social and physical routes, with a small control group as the only people who know.
Assumed-Breach Simulation
Start from a compromised laptop or account and test lateral movement, privilege escalation and data exfiltration detection.
Phishing & Social Engineering
Targeted spear-phishing, vishing (phone) and pretexting campaigns to gain the first foothold, run ethically and with consent.
Learn morePhysical Intrusion Testing
Tailgating, badge cloning and site access tests on offices and data rooms, under signed authorisation letters.
Purple Teaming
Red and blue teams work side by side, replaying ATT&CK techniques and tuning detections in real time.
Learn moreThreat-Led Testing (CBEST / TIBER-EU style)
Scenarios built from threat intelligence about groups that target your sector, following the TIBER-EU style phases.
Learn moreCloud & Identity Red Team
Attacks against Entra ID, Microsoft 365, AWS and GCP control planes, the routes modern attackers favour.
Learn moreRansomware Readiness Simulation
Safely emulate the steps ransomware gangs take before encryption, to test backups, detection and response.
Learn more03Business impact
What a red team changes for the business
How the board and the security team gain from a red team compared with relying on penetration tests and tooling alone.
| Factor | Pen tests and tooling only | ● With a Mutex red team |
|---|---|---|
| Risk visibility | You know which systems are vulnerable, not whether an attack would be noticed. | Measured time to detect and respond, and the exact steps that went unseen. |
| Cost of tooling | SIEM, EDR and SOC spend is assumed to work. | Evidence of which controls earned their cost and which need tuning or replacing. |
| Team effectiveness | Analysts rarely face a realistic, patient adversary. | The purple-team replay turns every missed technique into a new detection. |
| Regulatory assurance | No evidence for DORA TLPT or CBEST-style expectations. | A structured report usable for regulator and board assurance. |
| Incident impact | The first real test of response is a real breach. | Playbooks and escalation are rehearsed before an attacker tests them. |
04How it works
How an engagement runs
- 1
Threat intelligence & scoping
Identify the threat actors likely to target you and agree goals, routes, limits and the control group.
- 2
Reconnaissance
Map people, domains, technology and physical sites from public sources, as an attacker would.
- 3
Initial access & execution
Gain a foothold and pursue the agreed goals using ATT&CK techniques, stopping short of any harm.
- 4
Purple-team replay
Walk the SOC through every step, showing which alerts fired and which did not, and tune detections together.
- 5
Report & board briefing
An attack narrative, detection scorecard and prioritised improvements, presented to leadership.
What you receive
- Attack narrative with timeline and evidence
- MITRE ATT&CK detection coverage scorecard
- Prioritised improvements for people, process and technology
- New and tuned detection rules from the purple-team session
- Board-level briefing and summary report
05Compliance
Frameworks and regulations this supports
MITRE ATT&CK
Every red-team action is mapped to ATT&CK techniques so detection gaps are precise.
DORA
Significant EU financial entities must run threat-led penetration testing.
FCA Operational Resilience
Scenario testing of important business services within impact tolerances.
NCSC CAF
Objectives C and D: detecting and minimising the impact of incidents.
PTES
Phases and reporting standards our engagements follow.
SBP Cybersecurity Guidelines
Pakistani banks benefit from adversary simulation beyond annual VAPT.
grComply · GRC platform
Red-team lessons that become tracked improvements
grComply records every red-team finding and detection gap as a tracked action, linked to the monitoring and incident-response controls it affects, so improvements are completed and proven before the next exercise.
Explore grComply- Detection gaps linked to ISO 27001, NIST CSF and CAF controls
- Improvement owners, due dates and retest status
- Risk register updated with the scenarios tested
- Board dashboards showing maturity over time
What is the difference between red teaming and penetration testing?
A penetration test tries to find as many vulnerabilities as possible in a defined scope, usually with the defenders aware. A red team pursues a specific business goal using any agreed route, usually without the defenders knowing, to test whether the organisation can detect and respond to a real attack.
Is red teaming safe for live systems?
Yes, when it is controlled. We agree goals, limits and forbidden actions in advance, a small control group can stop the exercise at any time, and we never run destructive actions or denial-of-service. Data is never actually removed from your estate.
What is purple teaming?
Purple teaming is a collaborative session where the red team replays attack techniques while the blue team (your SOC) watches its tools in real time. Detections are tuned on the spot. Every Mutex red team ends with a purple-team replay.
How long does a red team engagement take?
A focused assumed-breach exercise takes one to two weeks. A full-scope, intelligence-led engagement usually takes several weeks, including threat intelligence, execution and replay.
Are we ready for a red team?
Red teaming gives most value once you have basic hygiene, regular penetration testing and some monitoring in place. If you do not yet have a SOC, a penetration test or VAPT is usually the better first step.
Do you run CBEST or TIBER-EU engagements?
We run engagements in the style of CBEST and TIBER-EU: intelligence-led, goal-based and mapped to ATT&CK. Formal CBEST and TIBER programmes are commissioned through the regulator with accredited providers; our exercises help you prepare for them.
How much does a red team cost?
It depends on the goals, routes (digital, social, physical) and length. We do not publish prices; we send a fixed-scope proposal after a scoping call.
Find out whether your defences would catch a real attacker
Talk to our red team lead about goals, scope and timing. Reply within one working day, or call 020 3307 5299.