1. Understanding Purple Teaming
Purple Teaming is a collaborative effort where offensive and defensive cybersecurity teams work hand-in-hand to assess and improve an organization’s security posture. Unlike traditional assessments where Red and Blue Teams operate separately, Purple Teams focus on real-time collaboration.
During a Purple Team engagement, both teams:
- Simulate cyberattacks to test defenses.
- Map out technical security controls that should detect or block these simulated attacks.
- Evaluate detection and response effectiveness in real time.
This process helps organizations uncover gaps, adjust configurations, and enhance overall defense mechanisms.
2. Methodology: How Purple Teams Work
a) Planning the Engagement
Before launching any tests, the team collaboratively designs simulated attack scenarios based on the organization’s threat model. This planning phase identifies which defensive controls should trigger alerts or block malicious activity. Key frameworks like the Cyber Kill Chain and MITRE ATT&CK guide this stage.
Key Tasks:
- Define likely attack chains.
- Develop custom attack scenario cards.
- Set clear security expectations for each test.
b) Iterative Testing
Once attack scenarios are defined, the team runs controlled attacks in iterative cycles. The defensive team (Blue Team) monitors whether expected alerts and responses are triggered. The process repeats until all vulnerabilities are addressed.
- Validate detection capabilities.
- Improve alert precision.
- Set clear security expectations for each test.
Testing Goals:
c) Root Cause Analysis & Recommendations
After identifying vulnerabilities, the team conducts root cause analyses to determine how weaknesses emerged. This step focuses on both technical flaws and process improvements. The findings are used to create actionable recommendations for both short- and long-term fixes.
d) Final Reporting
The last stage involves compiling a detailed report highlighting:
- Observations: What worked and what failed during the tests.
- Risk Impact: The potential business consequences of identified vulnerabilities.
- Root Cause Analysis: What caused the vulnerabilities.
- Recommendations: Tailored solutions for future prevention.
Conclusion
Purple Teaming is a proactive and highly effective cybersecurity approach that bridges the gap between offensive and defensive teams. By fostering real-time collaboration, organizations can strengthen their security infrastructure, detect threats faster, and respond more effectively to cyber incidents.
