Many organizations invest in red teaming to simulate adversarial attacks. While red teaming exercises are crucial to organizational defenses, annual tests aren’t enough to stay on top of evolving threats. In fact, repeated testing is now necessary to proactively improve systems long before malicious actors try to exploit them.

Continuous automated red teaming (CART) is a dynamic method that simulates threats 24/7. This unique approach to red teaming allows organizations to harness the power of automation, artificial intelligence, and advanced analytics to deliver real-time insights into their security posture. 

Whether you’re a cybersecurity professional trying to stay ahead of attackers or a business leader who needs to protect sensitive data, CART transforms how organizations approach security. In this blog, we’ll explore the benefits and best practices that make CART a must-have in your cybersecurity arsenal. 

What Is Continuous Automated Red Teaming (CART)?

CART is a red teaming method where organizations use automation solutions to test their systems continuously. Instead of conducting tests periodically, the system works in real time to simulate attacks. 

This proactive approach ensures organizations can identify vulnerabilities and assess their defenses as soon as possible, allowing for more effective risk mitigation.

While CART is a type of red teaming, it differs in a few ways: 

• It’s continuous: CART runs 24/7, unlike traditional red team exercises that happen at scheduled intervals.
• It’s automated: CART uses automated tools and algorithms to replicate tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used by real-world attackers, including phishing, lateral movement, and data exfiltration.
• Feedback happens in real-time: The CART system immediately analyzes and shares its findings, allowing your blue team to address security gaps as soon as they’re discovered. 
  

Continuous automated red teaming is a smart investment in your cybersecurity posture. Not only does it support constant improvement, but it also reduces your security team’s workload, freeing them up to focus on mitigation strategies. 

The Benefits of Continuous Automated Red Teaming

Any form of red teaming is beneficial, but opting for an automated process comes with additional advantages such as: 

1. Continuous assessment: Unlike traditional red teaming, which is limited to scheduled intervals, CART operates 24/7, ensuring that organizations remain vigilant against emerging threats.
2. Scalability: CART scales across large, complex, distributed environments without a lot of manual effort. Its automation makes it much easier to adapt to an organization’s size and scope as it evolves. 
3. Real-time mitigation: Continuous automated red teaming gives you immediate insights into vulnerabilities. This approach enables a “detect and respond” cycle that minimizes the time attackers have to exploit any weaknesses.
4. Less human error: Red teams are known for their prowess, but even then, mistakes can happen. Automating red teaming reduces manual processes, which removes errors and inconsistencies from red teaming. 

CART for Generative AI Platforms

Continuous automated red teaming plays a crucial role in securing generative AI platforms, which are increasingly targeted by cyber threats and adversarial attacks. Here’s how CART enhances the security of these AI-driven systems: 

• Defending against adversarial attacks: Generative AI models, including large language models (LLMs) and image-generation AI, are vulnerable to adversarial inputs designed to manipulate outputs or extract sensitive training data. CART continuously simulates these attacks, helping AI developers refine model defenses.
• Protecting against data poisoning: AI models rely on vast datasets, making them susceptible to data poisoning—where malicious actors introduce biased or harmful data to corrupt model outputs. CART proactively tests data pipelines, detecting and mitigating such threats before they compromise AI integrity.
• Ensuring model robustness: CART automates the testing of generative AI models under various stress scenarios, including prompt injection attacks, hallucination testing, misuse prevention, and other common attack scenarios. 
• Automating compliance and risk mitigation: Regulations around AI (such as the EU AI Act and NIST AI Risk Management Framework) require stringent security measures. CART helps AI teams maintain compliance by detecting bias and security flaws in AI outputs, stress-testing AI systems to maintain compliance, and automating risk assessments to meet evolving legal requirements.  

3 Best Practices for CART

Continuous automated red teaming is a best practice in itself. Automation is a savvy way to reduce errors and costs while improving your organization’s security posture. However, these best practices will help your security team get even more value from its investment in CART.

Start With the Right Tools

CART isn’t possible without automation tools, so choose a reputable solution for always-on testing. Leverage advanced CART solutions like Mindgard that provide cutting-edge automation, real-time insights, and scalability across complex environments. Mindgard offers features like AI-driven attack simulations, real-time feedback, and seamless integration with existing tools, making it easier to manage CART effectively.

Integrate CART With Blue Team Operations

Not all red teaming exercises include a blue team, but it’s helpful to collaborate with the defensive team to improve the scope of mitigations. Bringing the blue team into your CART solution fosters collaboration and helps them improve their detection and response skills. 

Customize Simulations

Malicious actors use various tactics to gain unauthorized access to your systems. The red team is responsible for mimicking these attacks, but some scenarios are more likely than others. Customize your attack simulations to fit your industry or infrastructure to get more value out of CART. Focus on critical assets and high-risk areas, such as sensitive data repositories, customer-facing applications, or cloud environments.

Secure Smarter, Not Harder

Continuous automated red teaming is a game-changer. Instead of treating security improvements as an annual item on a checklist, CART empowers organizations to constantly refine their security postures. Investing in CART isn’t just about mitigating risks—it's about building resilience, trust, and confidence in your organization’s ability to adapt and thrive in the face of cybersecurity challenges. 

With the right tools and strategies, CART can become an integral part of your security framework, ensuring long-term protection and success. Schedule a Mindgard demo now to put your red teaming on autopilot.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does CART differ from traditional red teaming?

CART is an automated, continuous process that works 24/7 to simulate cyberattacks. Traditional red teaming is typically a manual, periodic exercise. CART provides real-time insights and requires less human intervention, making it more efficient for ongoing security assessments.

Can CART completely replace manual red teaming?

No, CART can’t fully replace manual red teaming; it complements it. While CART is great at continuous, automated attack simulations, manual red teaming brings human creativity and adaptability to uncover complex vulnerabilities or test specific scenarios that automation may miss.

Does CART pose any risks?

While CART is designed to simulate attacks safely, poorly configured tools or overly aggressive simulations could inadvertently disrupt systems. Select a trusted solution like Mindgard to conduct simulations within clearly defined parameters.

‍