Red Team vs Purple Team

In today's world, security threats are at an all-time high, and organizations need to ensure that their security measures are robust enough to protect sensitive information from cyberattacks. 

Penetration testing and simulating cyberattacks emulating real-world risks to an organization’s assets and networks are important facets of modern defense strategies. This is where you may encounter the terms “Red Team” and “Purple Team,” two approaches to white hat security that focus on testing a business’ security posture. 

While similar in some capacities, Red Teaming and Purple Teaming differ in their techniques, tactics, and cybersecurity focus.

Read on: What is Penetration Testing?

Our guide below is designed to help organizations understand the crucial differences between these two approaches.

Red Teams: Testing defense through an attacker’s perspective

Red Teaming is a form of security assessment that involves a group of skilled security experts testing an organization's security infrastructure with techniques formed from an attacker's perspective. 

Red Teams perform simulated cyberattacks in an attempt to breach an organization's defenses. A black box approach is typically adopted, in which the cybersecurity experts performing the exercise have no prior or insider knowledge of an organization’s security posture, policies, or approach to vulnerability management. 

The primary goal of a Red Team is to discover vulnerabilities and weaknesses in existing systems and exploit them to obtain access to corporate assets and resources. 

While a real-world attacker may use these initial access points to perform reconnaissance, steal sensitive information, or disrupt business operations, Red Team experts operate within an ethical framework. They will test in-scope assets as agreed by their client.

This approach closely simulates real-world attack scenarios and helps organizations identify weak points in a way few other testing methodologies can.

Red Teaming is an investment. Red Team exercises are labor-intensive and require planning, time, effort, and resources to be effective. As a result, smaller organizations with limited budgets may require flexible penetration testing solutions with reduced upfront costs. Red Teaming exercises may also be unsuitable for organizations with immature security programs.

A Note on Blue Teams

Blue Teams are defenders. Blue Team members may include an organization’s security analysts, network administrators, and incident response teams. 

Purple Teams: Combining cybersecurity expertise

Purple Teaming is a collaborative security testing approach that involves Blue Team defenders and Red Team attackers working together. Purple Teams aim to identify and test specific security controls to see how well they function against different attack scenarios.

Unlike Red Teaming, Purple Teaming is focused on specific areas of an organization's security infrastructure. The Blue Team collaborates with the Red Team to understand how the attack was carried out and what vulnerabilities were exploited. Purple Team assessments will also include an analysis of the effectiveness of existing security controls. 

A Purple Team approach assists organizations in identifying areas where their security controls are deficient and implementing changes accordingly to enhance their security posture.

The advantage of Purple Teaming is that it is typically less costly than Red Teaming, as it is more focused and targeted. This approach also allows organizations to identify areas of improvement without being overwhelmed by the potential findings of a full Red Team assessment.

Comparison Chart:

Return on Investment:

When it comes to a return on investment (ROI), Red Team and Purple Team exercises can provide tremendous value to organizations. However, the ROI for Red Team engagements is often harder to quantify, as it is focused on identifying vulnerabilities and real-world attack vectors rather than specific security controls. In contrast, the ROI for Purple Team exercises may be more tangible, as they often focus on specific areas of an organization's security infrastructure and training.

Barriers to Entry:

The high cost of Red Teaming can be a barrier to entry for some organizations. Organizations with immature security programs may also not be ready to undergo this form of security assessment due to the attack vectors and number of vulnerabilities that may be discovered. 

Comparatively, Purple Teaming can be an excellent starting point for organizations that want to improve their security posture and existing defenses but understand they may not be ready for a full-scale Red Team engagement.