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Working collaboratively to improve defences

Purple Teaming is a collaborative security assessment approach that combines the efforts of the Red Team (offensive) and Blue Team (defensive) to evaluate and improve an organisation’s security defences.

In a Purple Teaming exercise, the two teams work together, leveraging their respective expertise and perspectives. The objective is to simulate realistic attack scenarios while actively defending against them, fostering communication, knowledge sharing, and mutual learning.

Red team vs blue team

The Red Team takes on the role of attackers, employing various tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to exploit vulnerabilities and breach the organisation’s defences.

Simultaneously, the Blue Team, responsible for the organisation’s security, actively defends against these attacks, utilising their defensive measures, security controls, and incident response capabilities. The teams collaborate closely, exchanging information, insights, and best practices throughout the exercise.

Purple Team Methodologies

A Purple Teaming exercise is a collaborative security assessment that brings together the Red Team (offensive) and Blue Team (defensive) to evaluate an organisation’s security measures.

Unlike traditional Red Team assessments, Purple Teaming fosters real-time collaboration between the teams. The exercise aims to identify vulnerabilities, test the effectiveness of existing security controls, and enhance the overall security posture.

The Red Team simulates attacks while the Blue Team actively defends against them, creating a cooperative environment that promotes knowledge sharing, communication, and joint learning.

Through this collaborative approach, Purple Teaming helps organisations strengthen their defences, improve incident response capabilities, and enhance coordination between offensive and defensive teams.

Our Purple Team process

  • Clearly define the objectives of the Purple Teaming exercise, such as enhancing collaboration between the Red Team (offensive) and Blue Team (defensive) or evaluating the effectiveness of existing security controls.
  • Determine the scope of the exercise, including the systems, processes, or specific attack scenarios to be tested.

  • Assemble a cross-functional team consisting of members from the Red Team (offensive) and Blue Team (defensive).
  • Encourage open communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing between the two teams throughout the exercise.

  • Collaboratively develop a detailed plan and rules of engagement for the Purple Teaming exercise.
  • Define the specific attack scenarios, the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to be employed, and the metrics for measuring success.

  • The Red Team simulates various attack scenarios, employing offensive techniques to exploit vulnerabilities and breach the organisation’s defences.
  • The Blue Team actively defends against these attacks, using their defensive measures, security controls, and incident response procedures.

  • Foster active collaboration and communication between the Red and Blue Teams during the exercise.
  • Encourage the sharing of knowledge, insights, and best practices to enhance the organisation’s overall security posture.

  • Conduct thorough post-exercise analysis and debriefing sessions to evaluate the outcomes, strengths, and weaknesses identified during the Purple Teaming exercise.
  • Identify areas for improvement in terms of security controls, incident response procedures, communication, and coordination between the Red and Blue Teams.

  • Prepare a comprehensive report documenting the findings, observations, and recommendations from the Purple Teaming exercise.
  • Provide actionable insights to strengthen the organisation’s security defences, enhance collaboration, and improve incident response capabilities.

The Purple Teaming methodology aims to bridge the gap between offensive and defensive security approaches, promoting a collaborative and proactive mindset.

It helps organisations evaluate their overall security effectiveness, identify blind spots, and enhance their detection and response capabilities by leveraging the expertise of both offensive and defensive teams.

The iterative nature of Purple Teaming allows for continuous improvement and the establishment of a strong security culture within the organisation.