# RedHerd: Offensive Cyberspace Operations as a Service
## 4 Results and Discussion  
The solution proposed in this paper is one of a kind, so it is quite difficult to find other state-of-the-art products that cover the same scope of the RedHerd framework. As experimentally demonstrated in Section 3, RedHerd promotes collaboration between OCO actors and embraces strong orchestration capabilities. In addition, the framework is able to cover all the CKC phases, from the reconnaissance up to the full target compromise, i.e., violating the confidentiality, integrity and availability of its data and services (see Figure 14). For the sake of completeness, the offensive security panorama offers a wide range of tools, all of them support a set of functionalities that represents a complement and not an alternative to the proposed solution. One of the most common attack tool is the already mentioned Metasploit Framework. It is a Ruby-based, modular penetration testing platform that enables an attacker to write, test, and execute exploit code. It contains a suite of tools employable to test security vulnerabilities, enumerate networks, execute attacks, and evade detection. At its core, the Metasploit Framework is a collection of commonly used tools that provides a complete environment for penetration testing and exploit development [33]. It also offers the Metepreter shell, which is essentially an attack platform that gets injected into the memory of a running process in order to avoid detection by Host-based Intrusion Detection System (HIDS), as well as bypass the limitations of the operating system's native command shell [11]. Figure 12: Sensitive file download from the target. Figure 13: Herd-View File Manager. Metasploit, when combined with the Meterpreter shell, also provides some basic post-exploitation features, i.e., the capability to use an existing access to pivot from one machine to another expanding the compromised surface and adding valuable footholds for the mission prosecution [34]. Anyway, actions related to the post-exploitation phase are usually performed using specific software defined as C2 frameworks, e.g., Covenant [35], Cobalt Strike [36], PowerShell Empire [37] and many others [38]. The aim of RedHerd is not to replace these products, but to multiply their magnitude collecting them in a powerful and centralized solution where complex objectives can be achieved in reasonable time, with affordable costs and even with minimised knowledge requirements. Another important aspect to take into account is that the acquisition of code for the exploitation of common vulnerabilities is quite easy. On one hand, there are tons of public websites hosting Proofs of Concepts (PoC) and exploits, e.g., ExploitDB [39] and GitHub [40], on the other hand, in case of structured engagements, attackers inevitably need in-house script development. In relation to this, the present paper has underlined several times how trivial is the implementation of custom RedHerd modules. Developers can wrap and integrate almost any kind of script or tool into the proposed framework and then operators just have to push a button. These considerations lead to the reason behind the title of the paper: Offensive Cyberspace Operations as a Service (OCOaaS). The OCOaaS model involves a complete software solution, locally set up, remotely deployed or Cloud-based, which allows organizations to conduct OCOs employing an uncountable number of devices and low-skilled operators. It offers a layer of abstraction placed in front of the operative infrastructure and tools. In this way, the operational actors have the opportunity to focus on the task execution, while ignoring all of the collateral activities. In addition, OCOaaS requires a flexible and quickly deployable solution to conduct OCOs at a minimal cost. This paradigm expands the discussion and opens a different yet close perspective. These days, the idea behind OCOaaS would find fertile ground in a wide variety of use cases.