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Red Team Engineering
book

Red Team Engineering

by Casey Erdmann
March 2026
Intermediate to advanced
352 pages
8h 59m
English
No Starch Press

Overview

Offensive security isn’t just about running scripts; it’s about implementing engineering solutions. Red Team Engineering will show you how to transition from penetration tester to red team operator—taking you beyond the basics of exploitation to teach you the “how” of professional offensive development and infrastructure engineering.

Casey Erdmann, an experienced red team operator, guides you through the complete development life cycle of a modern cyber operation. Using a project-based approach, you’ll engineer a complete offensive arsenal as you:

  • Build full-stack credential harvesting apps with HTML, JavaScript, PHP, and MySQL. 
  • Create brute-force and password-spraying tools in Python to attack SMB services.
  • Use Go to craft custom ransomware with encryption/decryption logic.
  • Abandon manual server setups for reproducible, disposable infrastructure.
  • Deploy C2 servers, redirectors, and phishing infrastructure on AWS.

You'll also learn how to:

  • Tunnel through firewalls with reverse VPNs using OpenVPN and PiVPN.
  • Manage fleet configurations at scale with Salt Project.
  • Simulate execution of end-to-end scenarios like deploying a physical “dropbox.”  

Whether your goal is to understand the enemy or to level up your penetration testing skills, Red Team Engineering will show you how to build professional-grade hacking tools that get the job done.

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 0642572230234Errata Page