Infection Monkey vs MITRE Caldera

Infection Monkey is an open-source breach and attack simulation tool for checking data center resilience to perimeter breaches and internal server infection. Monkey Agent scans systems and simulates attack techniques, while Monkey Island Server provides a command-and-control web interface. The tool maps visible machines, accessible services, and possible routes through a network, then reports security issues the agents discover or exploit. It supports on-premises environments, containers, and public and private clouds. The documented AWS integration uses Systems Manager to run Infection Monkey on EC2 instances, and plugins can be installed, updated, removed, or uploaded through the Monkey Island interface. Internet access is not required; when available, it is used to check for updates and whether machines can reach the internet. The FAQ says sensitive data is encrypted in the Island database and sent to agents over HTTPS, and that first launch requires creating credentials for access to the server. It also says the tool avoids exploits or attacks that may affect target systems, including EternalBlue. The Free plan is free.

MITRE Caldera automates adversary emulation and routine cybersecurity assessments using the MITRE ATT&CK framework. Its listed uses include autonomous emulation, detection and response platform testing, manual red-team work, and red-versus-blue research. Adversary profiles can be used to exercise defenses and train blue teams. The core combines an asynchronous command-and-control server, a REST API, and a web interface; plugins add capabilities including Atomic Red Team techniques, operational technology support, ATT&CK visualizations, incident response, reporting, and training. Its default Sandcat agent is written in Go and supports cross-platform deployment, beaconing, instruction execution, payload downloads, and file uploads. Caldera is free, open source under Apache License 2.0, and intended for on-premises deployment. Installation is documented from source and through Docker, with full and slim container variants. The project lists Linux or macOS and Python 3.10 or later with pip as host requirements, and recommends at least 8 GB RAM and 2 CPUs for the core framework. It advises running Caldera in a secure environment or network because its web interface is not hardened or thoroughly penetration-tested.