Commercial Offensive Cyber Capabilities: Red-Team Focus and What It Means for Digital Investigations

Published: August 2025

Summary of the UK Government Report

The UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) recently published a study on Commercial Offensive Cyber Capabilities: Red-Team Subsector Focus. Conducted by Prism Infosec, the report explores how commercial red teams are evolving in response to cloud adoption, AI, and regulatory drivers.

The research set out to examine 25–30 organisations across the broader offensive cyber market, but ultimately concentrated on commercial red teams. Out of 294 entities approached, 18 were interviewed. The report notes representativeness limitations but offers clear insights into sector trends:

Cloud adoption: The single largest shift, with hybrid identity compromise a growing concern.
AI: Seen as a useful co-pilot for coding, documentation, and triage—but not yet a replacement for human operators.
EDR/XDR maturity: Defensive tools are rapidly improving, forcing red teams to innovate on stealth and evasion.
IoT/OT: More testing is moving into industrial and connected environments once considered “too risky.”
Regulation: Frameworks such as GBEST, CBEST, and the EU’s DORA are key drivers of demand for legitimate offensive testing.
Business models: Shift from one-off tests to continuous, automated engagements.
Talent: Strong demand for cloud, malware, EDR, and cryptography skills; organisations rely on apprenticeships and in-house training.

Implications for Digital Investigations

For digital forensics and incident response (DFIR), the report signals significant shifts in investigative practice and expectations. Key implications include:

Cloud-first investigations: Evidence collection from cloud tenants, SaaS applications, and identity logs will be a core skillset.
Continuous testing deconfliction: Investigators must distinguish legitimate red-team activity from hostile intrusions, integrating deconfliction checks into workflows.
Smarter defences, stealthier attacks: Expect more short-lived, evasive offensive activity that requires timeline precision and cross-sensor correlation.
OT/IoT forensics: DFIR teams must prepare safe acquisition and analysis procedures for operational technology and industrial systems.
AI in investigations: Useful for triage, IOC de-duplication, and reverse engineering—but always with human validation and clear chain of custody.
Social engineering & authenticity checks: Growth in AI-enabled phishing and deepfakes demands robust authenticity verification workflows.
Regulatory compliance: With DORA, GBEST, and CBEST shaping the market, investigators must map outputs to regulatory expectations, with human sign-off on AI-assisted analysis.
Talent strategy: As in the red-team sector, DFIR leaders must invest in apprenticeships and structured upskilling to close skills gaps.

📊 Snapshot Summary

Focus Area	High-Level Summary	Risk Level
Cloud	Dominant infrastructure shift; hybrid identity compromise central challenge.	High
AI	Valuable co-pilot; useful for triage & automation but not authoritative. Risks in privacy and hallucinations.	Medium
EDR/XDR	Stronger defence tools require stealthier, shorter-lived offensive tradecraft.	High
IoT/OT	Rising focus on industrial and connected systems; safety-critical investigations needed.	High
Regulation	Frameworks (GBEST, CBEST, DORA) drive demand and shape evidence expectations.	Medium–High
Business Models	Shift to continuous testing and automation; deconfliction becomes key for DFIR.	Medium
Talent	Severe skills gap; training and apprenticeships critical for both red-teams and investigators.	High

Practical Next Steps for Investigators

Develop a cloud forensics toolkit for major SaaS and IaaS providers.
Build continuous-testing deconfliction checks into DFIR intake processes.
Formalise an AI-assisted analysis policy, defining where AI is acceptable and how outputs are validated.
Create an OT/IoT incident annex in playbooks to ensure safe handling of industrial cases.
Align investigative reporting to DORA, GBEST, and CBEST frameworks.

Editorial Perspective

This research underscores that the offensive cyber world is not static—it is reshaping itself around cloud dominance, the AI hype cycle, and tightening regulation. For digital investigations professionals, the takeaway is clear: adapt early, build cloud and AI-handling capacity, and prepare for an environment where regulatory compliance is inseparable from technical practice. Those who align their investigative methods with these market shifts will be best placed to deliver trusted, defensible outcomes in the years ahead.