Today’s security leaders are operating in a drastically different landscape. AI is accelerating attacker capabilities, expanding the attack surface into identity, cloud, SaaS, and GenAI systems, and enabling threats that move faster than traditional controls can keep up. At the same time, new regulations and frameworks are shifting from checkbox audits to evidence-based resilience, pushing organizations toward adversarial testing as a requirement—not a luxury.

Boards, regulators, and executives now expect clear, defensible answers: Are we resilient? What would a real attacker do here? Where should we invest?

Session Summary:

In this session, Bishop Fox Red Team Practice Director Trevin Edgeworth explains why modern red teaming has become a strategic tool for security leaders. He frames red teaming as objective-based adversary emulation that answers questions like whether a specific attack could succeed, how a threat actor would move through an environment, and which controls would stop them. 

Trevin outlines why security leaders like CISOs turn to red teams: 

• Build anti fragile programs 
• Validate where to invest limited resources 
• Test MSSPs and SOCs 
• See how teams perform under pressure. 

He layers these alongside real-world examples illustrating how red teams expose uncomfortable truths and drive long-term improvement. He also covers the shifting threat landscape, noting how AI is accelerating attacker capabilities, producing more convincing social engineering, enabling autonomous intrusion activity, and introducing emerging risks like data poisoning. He emphasizes that cloud, SaaS, and AI-focused architectures move the soft underbelly from servers to identity, integrations, CI/CD, and secrets management. 

Trevin closes by outlining how organizations can get real value from red teaming: 

• Use modern tooling 
• Include AI systems in scenarios 
• Rely on assumed breach to test safety nets 
• Insist on scenario-based reporting that distinguishes quick fixes from deeper program issues. 

He shares that he has watched organizations transform from fragile to resilient when they act on red team results and encourages attendees to continue developing internal capabilities and using adversary emulation to drive meaningful change.

Key Takeaways:

• Red teaming focuses on objective-based attack scenarios, not exhaustive vulnerability coverage.
• Purple teaming and tabletop exercises serve different goals: coaching defenders and stress testing crisis response.
• CISOs use red teams to build anti-fragile programs that improve through controlled adversity.
• Scenario based results help prioritize security investments and roadmap decisions.
• Red teams provide independent validation of MSSPs and SOC effectiveness.
• AI is enabling more autonomous, scalable attacks that defenders must plan and test for.
• Deepfakes and AI enhanced social engineering make voice and video-based trust a real liability.
• Data poisoning against AI and decision systems is an emerging, hard to detect threat.
• In cloud and SaaS heavy environments, identity, integrations, and CI/CD are the new soft underbelly.
• The most useful reports are scenario focused and clearly link technical findings to business impact and long-term fixes.