Introduction
The Certified Red Team Analyst (CRTA) is an entry-level Red Team certification offered by the rapidly growing company CyberWarfare Labs. For a very reasonable price, the course provides access to 29 lessons (some of which are informational), two exam attempts, VPN-based lab environments for 30 days, and email-based support.
The Course
The course is entirely in English and overall very manageable. The topics are engaging, especially since the structure mimics real-world scenarios. You begin by compromising a webfacing application, which then becomes a pivot point to breach an internal Active Directory environment. This multi-layered progression makes the training feel much more realistic and valuable.
At the end of the learning path, there’s a dedicated section that guides you step-by-step through the lab setup. Access to the lab is granted for 30 days upon request via email and is essential for preparing for the certification exam. Initially.
The course does a great job of introducing and explaining core Red Team concepts in a practical, actionable way. The material is not only useful for passing the certification but also relevant for real-world tasks and professional environments.
Thoughts on the Exam
While I can’t share specific details about the CRTA exam to avoid disclosing sensitive information, I can say this: everything you need to succeed is covered in the course content. However, one major challenge I encountered was the instability of the exam environment. Performing enumeration during the lateral movement phase was not particularly difficult from a technical perspective, but it became quite tedious and frustrating due to the unreliability of the machines.
If I had to offer one piece of advice to future candidates, it would be this:
Study multiple lateral movement techniques thoroughly don’t rely on just one. Also, make sure you fully understand the theory behind Kerberos-based attacks. A strong grasp of the concepts will make a big difference when things don’t go exactly as expected during the exam.
Final Thoughts and Honest Feedback
From my personal experience, I believe the CRTA course offers the best value for money in its category. Despite not having the big-name recognition of more “famous” certifications, it truly holds its own and delivers solid educational content. That said, there are a few areas where the experience could be improved:
1. Scheduling the exam is tedious – Available slots are very limited and tend to fill up quickly, which makes planning difficult.
2. Communication with support is challenging – Reaching them via email or Discord is nearly impossible. The only way I was able to get a response was by commenting on a public LinkedIn post.
3. The exam environment, while well-designed, suffers from instability – The structure of the exam is solid, but the frequent machine instability made the process unnecessarily frustrating.
That being said, the course itself is packed with high-quality content. For a very affordable price, you get access to a well-structured curriculum covering key topics in Active Directory penetration testing, 30 days of hands-on lab access, and a certification exam voucher.
I highly recommend this course to anyone preparing for the OSCP, especially if you feel underprepared for the Active Directory component. The techniques and scenarios covered in the CRTA course will give you practical skills and confidence that directly translate to more advanced certifications.
Finally I got my certification 🙂
