Atomic Red Team Explained: Simulating Adversary Techniques with MITRE ATT&CK

 Atomic Red Team

Atomic Red Team is an open-source project developed by Red Canary that provides a library of small, focused tests, called atomic tests, that simulate adversary techniques mapped to the MITRE ATT&CK framework. It’s designed to help security teams validate their detection and response capabilities in a safe, repeatable, and transparent way.

Purpose of Atomic Red Team

Atomic Red Team enables organizations to:

• Test security controls against known attack techniques.
• Train and educate security analysts on adversary behavior.
• Improve detection engineering by validating alerts and telemetry.
• Perform threat emulation without needing complex infrastructure.

What Are Atomic Tests?

Atomic tests are:

• Minimal: Requires little to no setup.
• Modular: Each test focuses on a single ATT&CK technique.
• Transparent: Include clear commands, expected outcomes, and cleanup steps.
• Safe: Designed to avoid causing harm to systems or data.

Each test includes:

• A description of the technique.
• Prerequisites (if any).
• Execution steps (often simple shell or PowerShell commands).
• Cleanup instructions.

How It Works

1. Select a Technique: Choose from hundreds of ATT&CK techniques (e.g., credential dumping, process injection).

2. Run Atomic Tests: Execute tests manually or via automation tools like Invoke-AtomicRedTeam (PowerShell) or ARTillery.

3. Observe Results: Use SIEM, EDR, or logging tools to verify whether the activity was detected.

4. Tune and Improve: Adjust detection rules or configurations based on findings.

Integration and Automation

Atomic Red Team can be integrated with:

• SIEMs (Splunk, ELK, etc.)
• EDR platforms
• Security orchestration tools
• CI/CD pipelines for continuous security validation

Use Cases

• Breach and Attack Simulation (BAS)
• Purple Teaming
• Detection Engineering
• Security Control Validation
• Threat Intelligence Mapping

Resources

• GitHub Repository: https://github.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team
• MITRE ATT&CK Mapping: Each test is linked to a specific ATT&CK technique ID.
• Community Contributions: Continuously updated with new tests and improvements.