When most ethical hackers think about red team operations, they focus on the exploiting websites, compromising an Active Directory domain, or weaponizing the latest CVEs. But there's a critical piece that often gets overlooked: the infrastructure that makes it all possible. After completing CyberWarfareLabs' Red Team Infrastructure Development (CRT-ID) course and passing the updated exam, I can confidently say this course opened up an entirely new dimension of offensive security for me.
Why I Was Interested in the Course
My journey into C2 infrastructure started with a specific gap I wanted to fill. As someone working in offensive security, I wanted to better understand C2 redirectors and eventually build my own with dreams of starting my own consulting company someday. More importantly, I felt like this was a needed skill in my current workplace.
Here's the thing that I noticed: many ethical hackers don't find infrastructure building particularly interesting. But for me, it was the perfect intersection of two passions – cloud engineering and offensive security. Having worked on cloud-based projects before and currently working in the offensive security field, this felt like a natural and practical evolution of my skillset.
The Strategic Career Move
From a job security perspective, I saw C2 infrastructure as a way to make myself an invaluable asset to any red team. The logic is simple: any red team operation needs infrastructure, so being the person who can stand that up for your team is huge.
I have a philosophy that red team operators should have three focus areas where they excel. You don't have to be the strongest in all three, but you should have at least an intermediate understanding of each, with one being an advanced specialty – the area where your team comes to you for help and you can completely support them through your expertise. My goal is to be intermediate in Active Directory exploitation and Cloud Pentesting, with C2 Infrastructure setup being my advanced specialty.
The Price Point That Changed Everything
But honestly? One of the biggest reasons I took the plunge was the price. At $5-10, this was essentially a no-risk experiment. I had been researching ways to build C2 redirectors through my own study but never found a course specifically focused on this topic until I discovered CRT-ID. CyberWarfareLabs created a product that really spoke to me with a price point so low that I literally couldn't talk myself out of buying it.
Coming from a background as a red team operator who later moved to a more dynamic pentesting role covering traditional pentests, web app assessments, red team engagements, and purple team engagements, I found myself still drawn back to red team tactics. This course felt like the perfect way to deepen that expertise.
What I Actually Learned
Building OPSEC-Safe Infrastructure
The course opened what I can only describe as "Pandora's box" when it came to engagement OPSEC and understanding how covert C2 traffic actually works. This wasn't just about setting up servers – it was about understanding the principles behind attribution avoidance, network traffic flow, and infrastructure lifecycle management that keep red team operations undetected.
Mastering Redirectors (The Real Game-Changer)
This was my main area of interest going in, and the course delivered in an unexpected way. Rather than teaching Apache redirectors like most resources I'd found, CRT-ID focuses on Nginx redirectors. While I initially learned their approach, I eventually took the core concepts and applied them to Caddy, which better aligned with my specific use case.
The real value wasn't in copy-pasting their configurations – it was in understanding the fundamental concepts that I could then adapt and mold into my own C2 infrastructure designs. The course gave me the foundation to build various types of redirectors and understand why each approach works in different scenarios.
Phishing & MFA Bypass Fundamentals
I'll be honest: this section felt (and is) much shorter compared to the redirector content. The course covers tools like Evilginx and GoPhish, providing the basics you need to understand the concepts and pass the exam. While I wished it went deeper, it gives you everything you need as a starting point to build upon.
The Hands-On Reality
CyberWarfareLabs doesn't provide a dedicated lab environment, so you could argue the course is more theoretical. But if you're genuinely interested in C2 infrastructure (and I haven't met many people in this space who aren't willing to get their hands dirty), you can easily follow along and build the web servers yourself.
This hands-on approach is actually part of the fun – you get to test your creativity by finding ways to hide C2 traffic and see the concepts come to life in your own environment.
The Updated Exam Experience
The exam format changed significantly between when I first purchased the course (March 2025) and when I took it (after the August 2025 update). Originally, it was a somewhat confusing format where you recorded yourself building a redirector and then wrote a report about your work.
The new format is much better: it's now an interesting CTF-style challenge where you review existing redirector configurations and fix the errors you find. This approach aligns much better with the course content and tests your actual understanding rather than your ability to document your work.
If you've followed along with the course material and attempted to build a redirector yourself, you should be good to go for the exam. The alignment between course content and exam requirements is spot-on.
Would I Recommend It?
This depends entirely on what you're looking for and what you're willing to pay.
At $10, this is easily one of the best courses I've ever taken. The ROI is absolutely insane – I honestly don't think there's another course that could compare in terms of value for money. If you're interested in understanding C2 infrastructure and building it out for your team, this is where you start. You can take the core concepts and flourish from there, building the foundation you need for more advanced work.
However, I do think there could be more content. Specifically, I'd love to see deeper coverage of phishing techniques and perhaps updates covering Caddy or Infrastructure as Code approaches like Terraform.
Who Should Take This Course
Perfect for beginners: This is the best content a beginner could ask for when starting their C2 infrastructure journey. CRT-ID gives you everything you need to start building redirectors, though there's definitely a "next level" that isn't covered.
Great for junior red teamers: If you're a junior-level red team operator looking to build your own C2 infrastructure capabilities, this is the course you want.
Limited value for experienced builders: If you've already built redirectors before, this course doesn't have much new to offer. But for the price, it might still be worth it to ensure you haven't missed any foundational concepts.
What's Missing (And Why That's Okay)
The course doesn't cover advanced topics like DNS redirectors or serverless redirectors via AWS Lambda or Azure Functions. But here's the key insight: after taking this course, I was able to build those more advanced redirectors because I had gained the foundational knowledge I needed. Sometimes the best courses don't try to cover everything – they give you the building blocks to figure out the rest.
The Real-World Impact
Since completing the course, I've been able to build Red Team infrastructure for my team using the concepts I learned. I took the Nginx-based approach from the course and successfully adapted it to work with Caddy for my specific use cases. This has genuinely helped grow my job prospects and establish myself as the infrastructure person on my team.
Street Cred and Recognition
While the CRT-ID certification isn't as renowned as the OSCP or CRTO, I firmly believe the ability to create redirectors is a highly sought-after skill. In a field where most people focus on exploitation techniques, being the person who can handle the infrastructure side makes you incredibly valuable.
Looking Forward
I don't see myself taking another C2 infrastructure course anytime soon, mainly because this one gave me the foundation to research and implement advanced concepts like DNS and serverless redirectors on my own. Now most of my time is focused on figuring out how to best apply these skills in real-world scenarios.
Think of this course as "Introduction to Red Team Engineering" – it builds your foundational skills relating to C2 infrastructure in a way that sets you up for independent learning and growth.
Final Verdict
If you want to get started in the infrastructure side of offensive security, I honestly can't think of a more cost-effective way than CRT-ID. At the current price point, it's practically a no-brainer if you have any interest in this area.
The course won't make you an expert, but it will give you the foundational knowledge to become one. Sometimes that's exactly what you need – not a comprehensive deep-dive, but a solid launching pad that shows you what's possible and gives you the tools to build from there.
For anyone on the fence: if you're even remotely interested in C2 infrastructure and the price is still under $20, just buy it. The worst-case scenario is you're out a few dollars. The best-case scenario is you discover a new specialty that makes you invaluable to red teams and opens up entirely new career possibilities.
That's exactly what happened to me, and I couldn't be happier with the investment.