Purple Team

What is a Purple Team?

A purple team is a group of cyber security professionals who simulate malicious attacks and penetration testing in order to identify security vulnerabilities and recommend remediation strategies for an organization’s IT infrastructure. The term is derived from the color purple, which symbolizes the combination of both red and blue teams.

Unlike traditional red team/blue teams, which are usually separate entities, the purple team works in close coordination, sharing information and insights in order to address acute weaknesses and improve the organization’s overall security posture.

Advantages and benefits of purple teaming

Purple teaming offers the same benefits of red teaming/blue teaming. In short, it allows organizations to actively test their existing cyber defenses and capabilities in a low-risk environment. Conducting a red team/blue team exercise allows the organization to:

• Identify misconfigurations and coverage gaps in existing security products.

• Strengthen network security to detect targeted attacks and improve breakout time

• Raise healthy competition among security personnel and foster cooperation among the IT and security teams

• Elevate awareness among staff as to the risk of human vulnerabilities which may compromise the organization’s security

• Build the skills and maturity of the organization’s security capabilities within a safe, low-risk training environment

However, implementing a true purple team strategy that brings together both the red and blue teams as one unit, offers additional benefits. These include

• Enhanced protection through continuous feedback and knowledge sharing between a united offensive and defensive team

• Consistency of testing, delivered through the continuous engagement of the purple team

• Common goals between the red and blue teams

Source: Crowdstrike

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The purple teaming approach combines the best attributes of both red and blue teams. Purple teams operate in a collaborative environment

• Simulating attacks like red teams.

• Defending against those attacks like blue teams.

They identify vulnerabilities within an organization's security infrastructure, evaluate existing defensive measures, and develop comprehensive plans to address weaknesses. This approach helps organizations stay one step ahead of potential adversaries.

From penetration testing and vulnerability assessments to incident response simulations, purple teams leverage the diverse skill sets of offensive and defensive experts to assess the effectiveness of security controls.

Source: Splunk