Certified Red Team Expert(CRTE) Exam Review & Guide

Jay Sharma
5 min readMar 25, 2023

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In this blog, we will discuss the benefits of obtaining CRTE certifications.

The main difference between the CRTP and CRTE certifications is the level of expertise required to pass the exams. CRTP is a beginner-friendly certification that covers the basics of red teaming, whereas CRTE is an advanced certification that assumes a breach methodology on an AD environment.

I took the Bootcamp as it help a lot with Doubts clearing session and knowledge sharing platform.

How BootCamp Help?

As cyber threats continue to evolve, security professionals must stay ahead of the game by continuously updating their knowledge and skills. The advanced bootcamp is designed to equip security professionals with the necessary skills to analyze and practice threats and attacks in a modern, multi-forest Active Directory environment. The bootcamp also covers how to abuse or bypass modern Windows defenses, such as Advanced Threat Analytics, Local Administrator Password Solution (LAPS), Just Enough Administration (JEA), Resource-Based Constrained Delegation (RBCD), Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC), Application Whitelisting (AWL), Constrained Language Mode (CLM), and more.

The bootcamp is designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the popular tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used in cyber attacks. Participants will learn how these TTPs change for attacks across forest trusts. This knowledge will enable security professionals to better protect their organization’s infrastructure and data.

The multi-forest Active Directory environment is fully patched with Server 2019 machines, providing a realistic simulation of a modern IT environment. Participants will learn how to analyze threats and attacks in this environment using advanced techniques and tools.

One of the key focus areas of the bootcamp is on how to bypass modern Windows defenses. This is essential knowledge as attackers continue to develop new techniques to evade security controls.

The bootcamp is led by experienced instructors who have real-world experience in dealing with cyber threats. The instructors will provide hands-on training and practical examples to help participants understand how to analyze and practice threats and attacks in a multi-forest Active Directory environment.

Preparing for the CRTE Certification Exam: Tips and Tricks

If you are planning to take the Certified Red Team Expert (CRTE) certification exam, it is important to be well-prepared. The exam requires you to demonstrate your skills in conducting a full-scale penetration test in a controlled environment. will share some tips and tricks that can help you prepare for the CRTE certification exam.

Preparing for these exams can be quite challenging, but the rewards are well worth it. Here are some of my thoughts on the experience of taking these exams:

  1. Practice makes perfect One of the key components of passing these exams is practice. In order to become proficient in red teaming, you need to practice various techniques and tactics until you can execute them flawlessly. This involves spending countless hours in lab environments and testing your skills against simulated targets.
  2. Time management is key During the exams, you’ll have a limited amount of time to complete various tasks and objectives. It’s important to manage your time well and focus on the most critical tasks first. Make sure to read the instructions carefully and prioritize your actions accordingly.
  3. Documentation is critical Red teaming is not just about executing attacks — it’s also about documenting your methodology and findings. During the exams, you’ll need to carefully document your steps, so that you can provide a clear and concise report to the examiners.
  4. Stay up-to-date on the latest techniques and technologies The world of cybersecurity is constantly evolving, and so are the techniques and technologies used by red teamers. It’s important to stay current on the latest trends and developments, so that you can effectively navigate the exam objectives.

Exam Duration

One of the best things about the CRTE certification exam is that you don’t need to schedule it in advance. You can start the exam at any time using their portal, which is awesome! When you press the “start exam” button, it will take around 10 minutes to create the exam VPN configuration file. Then, you will find a countdown that says “48 hours is going down.” After 5 minutes, RDP credentials will be created, and you will be compensated another hour after the initial 48 hours. Note that the counter will stop after the initial 48 hours, but the VPN connection will still be up for an additional hour as compensation. After these 49 hours, you will have 47 hours to write your report. So, the exam duration is 48 hours + 1 hour + 47 hours.

Suggestion: Use windows RDP mostly it’s very convenient than Guacamole web RDP.

Exam Targets

The exam lab has 5 target servers that are spread across domains and have different configurations and applications running on them. You will get access to a VM named “userexam” in the lab, There is no need for any type of brute-force attack that involves. And No extra Framework Required as you goon through Lab you will get an idea that which tools are mostly used in Assessments and feel free to try something new.

In conclusion, the CRTE certification exam is a challenging but rewarding experience that can help you improve your penetration testing skills.

Blogs and References:

Blogs:

YouTube:

GitHub:
https://github.com/hausec/Bloodhound-Custom-Queries

Good luck with your preparation!

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