What is Cobalt Strike commonly used for?

Cobalt Strike is primarily designed as a penetration testing tool that simulates the tactics of a real-world adversary. Its primary function involves creating command and control (C2) traffic, which allows users to manage compromised systems and deploy payloads effectively during security assessments. This aspect of Cobalt Strike is essential for security professionals to evaluate the resilience of their organizations against potential threats. By simulating an attacker's communications and behaviors, Cobalt Strike helps organizations better understand and strengthen their security postures.

The other options are not key functionalities associated with Cobalt Strike. For instance, while encrypting sensitive data is crucial for security, it does not fall under the primary use case of Cobalt Strike. Monitoring employee internet usage pertains more to network security and policy compliance, rather than offensive security testing. Automating marketing campaigns is completely unrelated to the functionalities of Cobalt Strike, which is strictly within the cybersecurity domain.