Is a Red Team course legal? What does it teach?

Yes. The course teaches ethical penetration testing only in an authorized, isolated lab. Intruding into unauthorized systems is not taught and is a crime under the law.

What do you need to know to start a Red Team course?

The basics of networking and Linux are essential. Blue Team or SOC experience is a big advantage, because knowing defense helps you understand the attack more deeply.

Which should you take first — a Red Team or a Blue Team course?

In most cases a Linux/networking foundation and Blue Team first, then Red Team, is recommended. A student who knows the logic of defense masters the attack stages faster.

Which methodologies are taught in the course?

NIST SP 800-115 (the pentest process), OWASP Testing Guide and Top Ten (web vulnerabilities), and MITRE ATT&CK (mapping attack techniques).

How many months does a Red Team course last?

At Log Academy the Red Team program lasts about 6 months and ends with lab tasks and a final report project.

What do I get at the end of the course?

Tasks completed in an authorized lab, pentest reports in professional format, a portfolio, a Log Academy certificate, and career support.

Red Team · 9 min read

Red Team course: how do you learn penetration testing?

A Red Team course teaches the offensive side of cybersecurity — penetration testing under authorized, controlled conditions: reconnoitering the target, finding vulnerabilities, exploiting them within an ethical framework, and delivering the findings to the defense team in a report. Red Team training is built on recognized methodologies (OWASP, NIST SP 800-115, MITRE ATT&CK) and is conducted only in a dedicated lab environment — unauthorized intrusion into external systems is illegal and is not taught in the course. A Red Team course suits analytically minded candidates who know the basics of networking, Linux, and defense.

Red Team is the offensive team: with permission it finds vulnerabilities and tests the organization's defenses.
Stages of penetration testing: reconnaissance, scanning, exploitation, post-exploitation, reporting.
Methodology: OWASP Testing Guide, NIST SP 800-115, a technique map based on MITRE ATT&CK.
All practice is conducted only in an authorized lab; unauthorized testing is illegal.
Before Red Team, a foundation in Linux, networking, and ideally Blue Team is recommended.
At Log Academy the Red Team program lasts 6 months, the group is 8–12 people, and the first lesson is free.

What is Red Team and how is it related to penetration testing?

Red Team is a team that, with the organization's permission, tests its defenses by acting like a real attacker. Penetration testing (pentest) is the core technical part of this work: finding vulnerabilities in a system, web application, or network and showing, under controlled conditions, how they could be exploited. The difference is that a pentest is often focused on a specific target, while Red Team is broader — it checks the entire defense, including people, processes, and technology.

A Red Team course teaches this work within an ethical framework: every task is accompanied by permission, a scope, and a report. The goal is not to cause harm, but to help the organization learn and close its vulnerabilities before a real attack.

What stages is penetration testing taught in on a Red Team course?

Reconnaissance: gathering information about the target from open sources.
Scanning and enumeration: identifying active services, ports, and versions.
Vulnerability identification: matching the gathered information with known vulnerabilities.
Exploitation: proving the vulnerability in a controlled manner within an authorized lab.
Post-exploitation and reporting: assessing the scope of impact and writing a report with remediation recommendations.

Each stage is reinforced with a separate lab task. The most important part of the course is the final step — delivering the findings in a clear, reproducible report, because the value of a pentest comes not from the vulnerability found, but from its remediation.

Which methodologies and tools does a Red Team course teach?

The main areas, methodologies, and tools of the Red Team course
Area	What is taught	Reference / tool
Methodology	Standard stages of the pentest process and documentation	NIST SP 800-115
Web application security	The most widespread web vulnerabilities and testing methods	OWASP Top Ten, OWASP WSTG
Attack techniques	Mapping real techniques by tactic	MITRE ATT&CK
Network and service testing	Reconnaissance, scanning, service enumeration	Lab environment
Reporting	Risk assessment, remediation recommendations, executive summary	Report template

Important: ethics and the law

Penetration testing is legal only when there is written permission and an agreed scope. Intruding into unauthorized systems is a crime. All course tasks are conducted in an isolated lab; no testing against real, external targets is taught or encouraged.

How we do it in our lab

Log Academy's Red Team program lasts 6 months and is built entirely on an authorized, isolated lab. Each student is given their own virtual range; there, on vulnerable machines, all stages from reconnaissance to reporting are covered, techniques are mapped by MITRE ATT&CK, and every task ends with a report in professional format. Groups are 8–12 people. The format is offline (Baku), online live, and corporate training. Those who complete the program receive a certificate, a portfolio, and career support. The first lesson is free.

Who is a Red Team course for, and can you start from scratch?

Those who know the basics of networking and Linux and want to learn the logic of attacks.
Those with Blue Team or SOC experience who want to see defense through an attacker's eyes.
Web and system administrators who want to understand the vulnerabilities of their own systems.
Analytical, patient candidates who are attentive to documentation.

Starting directly with Red Team completely from scratch — without any IT knowledge — is not recommended. The healthiest path is first a foundation in Linux and networking, if possible the basics of Blue Team, and then Red Team. Without knowing how defense works, it is hard to deeply understand the attack. But anyone who has this base can advance quickly in the Red Team direction.

Is a Red Team course legal? What does it teach?: Yes. The course teaches ethical penetration testing only in an authorized, isolated lab. Intruding into unauthorized systems is not taught and is a crime under the law.
What do you need to know to start a Red Team course?: The basics of networking and Linux are essential. Blue Team or SOC experience is a big advantage, because knowing defense helps you understand the attack more deeply.
Which should you take first — a Red Team or a Blue Team course?: In most cases a Linux/networking foundation and Blue Team first, then Red Team, is recommended. A student who knows the logic of defense masters the attack stages faster.
Which methodologies are taught in the course?: NIST SP 800-115 (the pentest process), OWASP Testing Guide and Top Ten (web vulnerabilities), and MITRE ATT&CK (mapping attack techniques).
How many months does a Red Team course last?: At Log Academy the Red Team program lasts about 6 months and ends with lab tasks and a final report project.
What do I get at the end of the course?: Tasks completed in an authorized lab, pentest reports in professional format, a portfolio, a Log Academy certificate, and career support.