A security team that combines offensive and defensive tactics to identify, assess, and mitigate security risks, a purple team is a group of cybersecurity 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 concept of red teaming and blue teaming was first introduced in the 1960s as a US military tactic. The red team was used to represent the offensive (the Soviet Union, at the time) and the blue team, the United States or the defensive. Decades later, cybersecurity professionals applied this concept as a combined approach, enacting simulated attacks from Red Teams that would work as hackers and APTs, while Blue Teams worked to detect threats and protect against them.
For all the success of this model, there were often gaps in communication between the two teams that made penetration tests less effective at gathering insights. That’s when Purple Teams were introduced. The name "Purple Team" originates from the color purple being a combination of red and blue, and as we’ll explore, in cybersecurity is often what makes the combined efforts of Blue and Red Teams more impactful and productive.
Purple Teaming provides unique benefits to penetration tests, but only when best practices are modeled. It’s vital that organizations understand exactly how these teams operate in order to maximize what they can do to improve cybersecurity measures.
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Purple Teams are the combination of Red and Blue Team efforts and the lead coordinator between the two teams. The Purple Team maximizes the efforts of both teams, bridging the gaps essential for comprehensive security outcomes and collaboration, ROI, detection, and security posture.
Instead of working alone or in competition with the red and blue teams, purple teams foster communication between them. Even though one side is on offense and the other on defense, they’re all operating on a shared goal: to help an organization improve its cybersecurity position. The Purple Team plays a vital role in keeping that shared goal in mind.
Here are the Purple Team’s main responsibilities in a penetration test:
To perform the above, Purple Teams need to understand both defensive and offensive strategies. It’s why these teams usually feature experts from each of the opposing teams or those who have experience working on both sides.
To understand the full scope of how purple teams operate in a pen test alongside blue and red teams, here’s a summary of each and where they diverge:
There are multiple frameworks that can be used for purple teaming, including smaller, faster ones such as the Atomic Purple Team versus the larger, more scenario-based efforts of the Purple Team Exercise Framework. The best way to understand the impact that Purple Teaming can have on cyber security penetration tests, however, is by looking at some examples of it in action.
Here are two classic purple team examples and how they managed to improve the outcomes of simulated attacks:
A red team launches an email campaign sent to employees. The Purple Team will work with the Red Team to make the phishing emails seem more realistic while also making sure that the Blue Team is monitoring email logs and adjusting accordingly to the Red Team’s approach.
This real-time monitoring and input from the Purple Team allows both teams to perform their jobs to the fullest, resulting in more robust insights into how to improve email filtering and protect against phishing attacks.
The MITRE ATT&CK framework is a common pen test approach, but coordinating one requires the efforts of a Purple Team. They will ensure that the Red Team emulates known techniques used by threat actors and that the Blue Team is positioned to detect and respond appropriately. This is a key example of how Purple Teaming helps coordinate efforts when specific attack types need to be tested.
Here are the main advantages that Purple Teaming offers:
Purple teaming lands the best results when these practices are observed:
At Prescient Security, we offer a variety of targeted testing approaches, including Purple Team Engagements. Click here to talk with our experts and learn more about bridging the gap between your offensive and defensive measures.
Not only can it improve reporting, but it also provides an important layer of collaboration for penetration tests. This makes efforts to expose and protect against security vulnerabilities much more effective and ultimately results in stronger systems.