Cyberattacks are advancing at a pace that traditional defenses struggle to keep pace with.While penetration tests and periodic audits remain useful, they often provide only a partial view of security readiness. To gain a true measure of resilience, organizations must view their systems from the perspective of an attacker. This is the purpose of Adversary Simulation.
Also known as Purple Teaming, Adversary Simulation brings together a Red Team. This emulates attackers and a Blue Team that defends in real time. Unlike routine tests, it replicates actual attack techniques step by step, while continuously assessing whether defenses detect and respond effectively. The result is clearer insight into blind spots, stronger controls, and improved incident response.
In this blog, we will explain how adversary simulations work. We’ll also discuss how they differ from penetration testing and Red Team assessments. Finally, we’ll show why they are now a key part of modern cybersecurity strategy.
What is Adversary Simulation?Â
Adversary Simulation is a practical cybersecurity method that recreates how real attackers attempt to compromise your systems. It uses the same tools and techniques seen in actual breaches, but in a safe and controlled way. This helps organizations understand how their defenses respond and reveals the exact paths an attacker might attempt to use.
Unlike penetration testing or passive scans, Adversary Simulation, also known as Purple Teaming, is a collaborative method where the Red Team (attackers) and Blue Team (defenders) work together in real-time. The goal is not only to simulate attacks, but also to test how quickly the Blue Team detects and responds to them. This collaboration helps identify gaps, fine-tune defenses, and build stronger incident response capabilities, rather than simply proving that a system can be breached.
How Adversary Simulation Differs From Penetration Testing and Red Teaming
It is easy to confuse penetration testing, red teaming, and adversary simulation since all involve testing security through simulated attacks. However, the purpose, scope, and approach are very different.
Penetration Testing is focused on finding and exploiting technical vulnerabilities in a specific application, system, or network segment. It is usually narrow in scope, time-boxed, and provides a snapshot of weaknesses that need patching.Red Team Assessment is broader and stealthier. A Red Team acts like a real-world attacker, usually without the defenders knowing. They test how deep they can infiltrate and if critical assets can be compromised. The goal is to measure detection and response when the Blue Team does not know an exercise is underway.
Adversary Simulation (Purple Teaming) is collaborative. Here, the Red Team carries out realistic attacks step by step, while the Blue Team actively works to detect and respond. After each stage, both teams review what was seen, what was missed, and how defenses can be improved. This makes it less about proving a breach is possible and more about strengthening detection and incident response in real time.
Step-by-Step Breakdown: How Adversary Simulation Works
1. Define Objectives and Scope
Every effective adversary simulation starts with a clear understanding of the goal. The first step is to identify what needs to be tested. This might involve how easily an attacker can reach sensitive systems, check response procedures, or navigate across your network. Defining the goal shapes a simulation that captures real and relevant threats. It also ensures your daily business operations continue without disruption.
Adversary Simulation Services are most valuable when they are aligned with your actual risk environment. This step involves outlining the simulation’s scope. It can focus on internal systems, external applications, or both. It also includes setting boundaries and expectations for the assessment. When the scope is clear, the simulation provides valuable insights. It also helps you see how ready your team is to tackle advanced threats.
2. Intelligence Gathering
The Red Team begins by studying the organization the way a real attacker would. This includes collecting open-source intelligence, identifying exposed assets, scanning for weaknesses, and mapping the infrastructure. The purpose is to build an attacker’s view of the environment.
In this phase, the Blue Team sees how much information is public and how enemies might use it. By observing the process, defenders can boost controls on vulnerable systems. They can also enhance monitoring of external attack surfaces. This phase sets the foundation for creating realistic attack paths that reflect actual threats.
3. Gaining Initial Access
This phase tests the ease with which an attacker can break into your environment. It could involve sending a crafted phishing email, exploiting an unpatched vulnerability, or using stolen login credentials. As part of Adversary Simulation Services, the Red Team attempts to gain access without triggering alerts, while the Blue Team works to detect suspicious activity.
This stage identifies vulnerabilities in email security, endpoint security, and, finally, user awareness. If the Blue Team successfully detects the attempt, the document highlights the detection and mitigation process, which is reviewed. If the attack succeeds unnoticed, the gap is analyzed, and new rules or tools are recommended to address the issue. The fact that a real-time feedback loop exists between the teams is what separates Purple Teaming from your typical penetration test.
4. Establishing Persistence
Once access is obtained, the Red Team tests how long they can remain inside without being detected. Techniques include scheduled tasks, registry changes, or misuse of trusted tools like PowerShell. These tactics mimic the way real attackers maintain long-term access.
The Blue Team is challenged to spot unusual patterns and remove the intruder. Every detection or miss is discussed immediately, allowing defenders to fine-tune monitoring rules and response steps. This stage is vital for checking if current tools can identify unauthorized activity before it results in serious damage.
5. Privilege Escalation and Lateral Movement
Once persistence is achieved, attackers often aim to gain higher privileges and move deeper into the network. This phase of Adversary Simulation Services tests how easily a user-level breach can turn into full domain control. Techniques such as token manipulation, exploiting weak service permissions, or dumping credentials from memory are commonly used to escalate privileges.
After escalation, lateral movement techniques are used to access other systems, databases, or administrator tools. This step shows whether segmentation, access policies, and monitoring controls are working as expected.
Common tactics used in this stage include:
- Pass-the-Hash and Pass-the-Ticket attacks
- Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) traversal
- Exploiting trust relationships between machines
- Using legitimate admin tools (PsExec, PowerShell) to blend in
For the Blue Team, this stage tests whether segmentation, access controls, and monitoring systems are functioning as intended. Each move is reviewed to determine how quickly it was detected and whether the defense was strong enough to contain the spread.
6. Objective Execution
After gaining access and moving across the network, the simulation focuses on achieving the attacker’s end goal. This could be accessing financial records, customer data, internal emails, or even disrupting key business services. At this stage, the focus is on understanding how easily these critical assets can be reached without triggering any alarms.
At this stage, the Blue team works to prevent infiltration before it reaches its objectives. If they succeed, the rescue is valid. If not, the simulation highlights how important systems can be compromised. This enables leadership to prioritize robust security for high-value data and applications.
7. Detection, Response, and Reporting
The final stage evaluates how effectively the organization detects and responds across the entire attack lifecycle. The Red Team continues to operate, while the Blue Team actively monitors and reacts. Their performance is measured against frameworks such as MITRE ATT&CK to determine whether critical steps, like exfiltration or data exfiltration, are identified in a timely manner.
The reporting stage of Adversary Simulation Services delivers actionable insights on detection gaps and response times. Industry research indicates that attackers often remain undetected within networks for weeks before being identified. This phase measures how quickly that window can be reduced.
At the end of the engagement, a detailed report is shared. It explains which tactics were used, which defenses succeeded, and where gaps exist. More importantly, it includes practical recommendations for refining detection rules, improving incident response workflows, and strengthening security architecture. The collaborative review ensures that both technical teams and leadership understand the findings and can act on them effectively.
Key Benefits of Adversary Simulation Services
Defensive tactics, including firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and endpoint security solutions, are frequently used by organizations. But these instruments are insufficient on their own. There are many advantages to using adversary simulation services:
Test Against Real Threats
Simulating real attack scenarios shows how your current defenses hold up against the types of threats businesses face every day.
Find and Fix Security Gaps
These tests reveal weak spots in your systems, providing you with the opportunity to address them before attackers can identify and exploit them.
Strengthen Incident Response
Adversary simulations help test how fast and effectively your team can respond when something goes wrong. This improves your real-world readiness.
Train Your Team for Real Attacks
Your employees are part of your defense. These simulations help them learn how to spot and handle different types of threats with confidence.
Validate Security Tools and Configurations
Adversary simulations test whether your security tools such as firewalls, EDR, and SIEM are properly configured and detecting threats as expected.
Why Choose LMNTRIX for Adversary Simulation?Â
LMNTRIX Adversary Simulation uses real-world attack techniques aligned with the MITRE ATT&CK framework to evaluate security readiness. Through our Purple Team method, the Red Team simulates attacker behavior, while the Blue Team works alongside to detect and respond in real-time. This joint approach ensures that defenses are tested, detection gaps are identified, and response processes are strengthened throughout every stage of the attack lifecycle.
Each engagement provides a clear report that maps attack paths, highlights exploited vulnerabilities, and explains where detection failed or succeeded. Our analysis includes fact-based risk assessments and practical recommendations tailored to your environment. By combining controlled intrusion methods, advanced intelligence, and collaborative review, LMNTRIX helps organizations validate security posture and improve resilience.
Schedule your adversary simulation today to uncover hidden risks and strengthen your defenses.
Final Words
Adversary simulation gives organizations a real-world view of how well their security stands against modern threats. By mimicking actual attacker behavior and techniques, these simulations go far beyond routine testing. They help uncover hidden risks, measure detection and response capabilities, and prepare teams for incidents before they escalate into real damage. This blog outlined how the process works, what each stage reveals, and why it’s now a critical part of modern cybersecurity.
If your organization is ready to move beyond basic assessments, LMNTRIX can help. Our expert-led Adversary Simulation Services, based on a Purple Teaming approach, are designed to test your environment, expose detection gaps, and provide practical steps for improvement. Partner with LMNTRIX today to strengthen your security posture, increase team readiness, and stay ahead of evolving cyber threats.
