Staying ahead of cyber threats requires more than strong defenses. Today, organizations must work proactively and think like an attacker. Red teaming allows organizations to simulate adversarial attacks, helping businesses address vulnerabilities long before attackers exploit them.
However, red teaming requires proper training and technical skills. With a plethora of red teaming certifications and courses available, choosing the right one can feel overwhelming. That’s why we’ve identified the best certifications and training courses for different needs and skill levels, such as:
Whether you’re just starting your cyber security career or looking to advance your expertise, finding a program that aligns with your goals and industry demands is crucial. In this guide, we’ll explain why red teaming training is so important and share the 27 best certifications and courses for professionals of all experience levels.
Red teaming aims to identify vulnerabilities and test the effectiveness of an organization's defenses, offering a proactive approach to improving security. However, it’s a very technical process that requires a wide range of skills.
Red teaming certifications are great for cyber security experts who want to prove their skills to potential employers. Most certifications are pretty rigorous, and successfully earning a certification demonstrates your skills and keeps you updated on adversaries’ latest attack vectors and methods.
Red teaming courses are often provided as part of the certification process (although not always). These courses equip you with the knowledge to plan exercises, execute red team plans, and produce a report of your findings.
Red teaming certifications and courses are helpful for many reasons, including:
There are many red team training certifications and courses out there. However, not all courses will be a match for your goals or skill level. Follow these rules of thumb to select the best red teaming certifications and courses:
We’ve rounded up 27 of the best red teaming certifications and courses to save you time. Check out the following options for multi-cloud environments, hybrid cloud environments, beginners, advanced red teaming, and hands-on learning.
Microsoft’s AI Red Team provides professionals and organizations with comprehensive guidance and best practices to secure their AI systems. The training offers insights into AI risk assessments, a shared responsibility model for AI security, and developer threat modeling guidance for machine learning systems.
Microsoft’s AI Red Team includes resources on understanding threats through a taxonomy on machine learning failures, MITRE ATLAS (Adversarial Threat Landscape for Artificial Intelligence Systems), an open-source “knowledge base of adversary tactics and techniques against AI-enabled systems,” and a bug bar to triage attacks on ML systems.
The training also explores secure solutions by detailing methodologies for aligning language models safety and provides references on enterprise security and governance for Azure Machine Learning. In addition to its online resources, Microsoft AI Red Team holds training sessions, briefings, and panel discussions at industry events like Black Hat.
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Exploring Adversarial Machine Learning is an online, self-paced course offered by NVIDIA. The program covers modules such as evasion, extraction, inversion, membership interference, poisoning, and applications to large language models.
Participants are introduced to NVIDIA’s assessment framework, providing them with methodologies and tools to conduct thorough security evaluations of ML models.
NVIDIA’s AI Red Team also conducts hands-on training sessions, workshops, and challenges focused on machine learning security at industry conferences such as Black Hat and DEF CON. Additional training is available through NVIDIA’s Deep Learning Institute.
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Multi-cloud environments are the future. However, cloud environments are notoriously tricky to secure, which is where CWL’s training comes in. The MCRTA certification process covers cloud security for AWS, Azure, and GCP.
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Red teaming in a multi-cloud environment is difficult, but it’s even more challenging in a hybrid environment. Take the CHMRTS course from CWL to learn how to bypass security controls in a multi-cloud environment and exfiltrate sensitive data through hybrid setups.
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Do you need to learn the fundamentals of cyber security? This course from the RedTeam Hacker Academy offers a comprehensive overview of red teaming topics and skills. To safeguard your organization, you must understand the basics of not only planning and executing attacks but also defending against them.
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Altered Security’s red team lab course teaches professionals how to understand and bypass defenses for Microsoft machines. Learn how to think like an adversary in this hands-on course with access to a simulated lab environment.
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The SEC565 course teaches you how to organize a red team, conduct threat intelligence, and analyze results. It includes six in-depth sections on topics ranging from threat intelligence to TTPs to pilfering data.
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Understanding what you want is the first step to selecting a reputable red team training program. Now it’s time to find the right course for your goals.
Whether you’re pursuing certification to further your career or want to take a course on the latest innovations in red teaming, this list is a great place to start. Note that we’ve listed the following red teaming certifications and courses in alphabetical order; otherwise, they’re not ranked or rated in any way.
Advanced Azure Attacks is a valuable course for red teams operating in a cloud environment. Take this course to understand and practice enterprise-level attacks in a live Azure environment with challenging security controls.
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The BSCP certification is a more generic cyber security credential for beginners. However, earning this certification shows you understand common vulnerabilities, exploits, and mitigation strategies.
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Infosec’s CCPT certification is one of the most reputable and popular options for offensive cyber security testing. While it primarily covers penetration testing, its focus on the cloud is particularly helpful for modern red teams.
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Red teaming exercises rely on the expertise of ethical hackers. Organizations look for individuals with the EC-Council’s certification to verify their skills and background. The course includes 221 hands-on labs to give you plenty of real-world practice before the final exam.
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The GCIH certification shows you know how to detect and resolve security incidents. While blue team professionals will get a lot out of this certificate, the program also trains you on common attack techniques and vectors, as well as common mitigation responses.
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The Global Association for Quality Management offers a CPT exam to test your mettle as a red team pro. Learn how to assess target networks, find security vulnerabilities, and manage the legalities of penetration testing in this course.
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The GIAC Python Coder certification proves you understand common Python libraries. While this certification is helpful in many use cases that don’t relate to red teaming, red teams rely heavily on this programming language. Certification proves you’re proficient in Python and understand how to emulate adversaries’ code.
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Infosec’s red team training boot camp is ideal for learning the basics of red team exercises. Passing the final exam certifies you as a CRTOP, which will equip you with the skills to start red teaming.
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CRTP is Alerted Security’s certification program for red teaming. To earn the certification, students must solve a complex hands-on assignment. With over 14 hours of content, you’ll learn everything there is to know about common attack vectors and managing multiple domains.
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Google offers a course on red teaming through Mandiant Academy. This instructor-led course is designed specifically for enterprise organizations that need to mimic adversarial attacks. It also teaches you how to bypass network segmentation, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and more.
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Penetration testing isn’t the same as red teaming, but it’s still a valuable skill for red teamers. The CompTIA Pentest+ exam and certification not only covers common attack vectors, but also trains you on artificial intelligence (AI), hands-on inventory, lateral movement, and more.
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Take your cyber security skills to the next level with HackMe’s advanced red teaming course. Over the course of six modules and 36 hands-on labs, you’ll learn how to emulate a variety of adversarial attacks.
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Red teams need strong leaders to create a plan of attack and monitor the testing process. The MCSI certification teaches you how to create custom malware for enterprise environments, giving you a valuable technical foundation for red teaming success.
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OffSec’s PEN-300 course focuses on advanced penetration testing. It offers hands-on experience with bypassing security defenses and teaches students how to create custom exploits from real-world scenarios. Passing the final exam will earn you the OffSec Experienced Penetration Tester (OSEP) certification.
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OffSec’s EXP-401 course shares the ins and outs of advanced Windows exploitation. Learn how to bypass mitigation techniques and conduct other complex workarounds in this hands-on, in-person environment. You can either take the EXP-401 course as a one-off or as part of the OSEE certification process.
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Experienced red team testers will benefit from this advanced certification by OffSec. You must successfully pass three advanced courses on a range of cyber security topics, from advanced web attacks to Windows user mode exploits.
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The PEN-200 course focuses on penetration testing with Kali Linux. However, this certification is a helpful stepping stone for pursuing red teaming certifications because it lays the foundation for more technical courses.
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The EC-Council offers a CyberQ Skillpack just for red teaming, which tests a variety of advanced skills. Assess your knowledge of remote code execution, command injection, credential attacks, and other types of adversarial attacks.
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Sektor7’s Red Team Operator course is essential for red team professionals who want to understand malware development better. With 32 lessons, the course covers everything an ethical hacker needs to know to develop offensive attacks in Windows.
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The GRTP certification proves you know how to execute red team exercises. To pass this certification exam, you must build an emulation plan, create C2 infrastructure, and do TTP emulation.
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As generative AI platforms become increasingly integrated into business operations, their security risks become more complex. Attackers can exploit AI vulnerabilities through adversarial attacks, data poisoning, model abuse, and other methods. Red teaming training and certification play a crucial role in equipping security professionals with the skills needed to identify and mitigate these risks proactively.
While red teaming training and certification equip professionals with the knowledge to identify and mitigate threats, supplementing this expertise with a specialized tool like Mindgard enhances practical application, efficiency, and scalability in red teaming exercises for generative AI platforms. Book a demo today to discover how Mindgard can help you secure your AI systems.
While both focus on identifying vulnerabilities, red teaming certifications focus on real-world adversarial attacks like social engineering. Penetration testing is more limited in scope, identifying technical vulnerabilities through structured testing.
It depends. Most programs are self-paced and can be completed in a few weeks. Others require in-person, hands-on training for as long as a week. Always consider the estimated completion times and course formats to choose a certification program that fits your schedule.
Yes, hands-on labs are a critical component of most red teaming courses. They provide practical experience with tools, techniques, and scenarios that mimic real-world attacks.
