A purple team involves aspects of the red and the blue teams combined. This could include bridging a gap between offensive and defensive teams for better engagement, collaboration and feedback which, in turn, will improve the target organisation’s cyber security posture.
In cybersecurity risk assessments, such as penetration tests, different parties are given different colour names depending on their roles. Generally speaking, the attackers are the red team and the defence is the blue team.
The purple team is necessary for offering a comprehensive and coordinated cybersecurity approach which takes into account both the offensive and defensive strategies. It brings together red and blue teams in a collaborative approach to test and improve an organisation’s cybersecurity.
Usually, red and blue teams operate completely independently with the blue team – usually an internal team from the organisation – caught off guard by the red attack.
The goal of the purple team is to improve the overall security of the posture by identifying weaknesses and vulnerabilities in the defence and then developing and executing plans to address these. It can make the security testing process more efficient and effective, introducing opportunities for collaboration throughout and using feedback to guide defence.
Collaboration between red and blue teams
Combines the expertise of attack and defence specialists working together as one team.
Holistic vulnerability identification
Detects weaknesses across networks, security systems, and internal procedures more effectively than separate teams.
Real-time communication
Attackers share their methods while defenders report what they detect, fostering continuous knowledge exchange.
Shared learning and visibility
Helps both teams learn from one another and uncover security gaps that might be missed in traditional testing.
Actionable security improvements
Leads to better controls, stronger detection systems, and more effective, real-world response strategies
Red teams are the attacker team, acting as ethical hackers within controlled environments. They are responsible for carrying out sophisticated attacks on an organisation’s system, simulating exactly what a real-world attacker would do to breach defences. See red teaming companies.
The blue team is responsible for defending against the attacks of the red team and working to secure the system through monitoring, detection, and rapid response to potential threats. See blue teaming companies.
The purple team combines both red and blue team expertise, working collaboratively rather than adversarially. They are responsible for conducting security assessments where attackers and defenders share knowledge in real-time to improve overall security effectiveness.
At its core, purple team security testing requires communication and collaboration between red (offensive) and blue (defensive) teams. At Rosca Technologies, we do this process over 4 key steps:
We carry out an in-person workshop to map out your organisation’s entire system to understand your company and start planning targeted attacks on your key assets.
Based on the information gathered, we can create custom test cases tailored specifically to your organisations and built around the key concerns and threats. We then carry out these tests, working collaboratively with your security teams and recording the outcome of each test case.
We profile the types of threat groups that target organisations like yours to identify potential attacker strategies and detect weaknesses.
We produce a comprehensive report and carry out a thorough debrief to discuss the findings and evaluate the company’s detection and prevention capabilities.
Purple teaming is important because it fosters collaboration between offensive (red) and defensive (blue) security teams, leading to more effective and efficient security testing. Unlike traditional assessments where the teams operate separately and the blue team is unaware of incoming attacks, purple teaming encourages joint efforts.
This collaboration helps both sides identify real weaknesses, focus on the most critical vulnerabilities, and avoid wasting time on low-priority areas. By working together, organisations can gain clearer insights, sharpen their defences, and accelerate their overall security maturity.
Purple teaming strengthens overall cybersecurity faster by working together to identify vulnerabilities and improve defences more quickly
Purple teaming can help security professionals gain better insight into how attackers plan and operate and how the defence responds.
With purple teaming, there is a constant feedback loop between the attack and defence teams that wouldn’t otherwise be achieved without this type of pentesting.
Bringing the red teams and blue teams together allows them to develop innovative solutions and expand their way of thinking. This exposure to different perspectives can lead to an overall increased understanding of cybersecurity for all professionals involved.
Banks and financial institutions require robust security posture assessment to safeguard financial transactions, protect customer accounts, and secure online banking platforms from sophisticated attacks.
Medical organisations need comprehensive evaluations to secure patient data and ensure GDPR compliance.
Production facilities benefit from assessments to protect intellectual property and operational technology
Government agencies need thorough security evaluations to safeguard sensitive information and critical infrastructure
Purple teaming is a collaborative cybersecurity exercise where offensive (red team) and defensive (blue team) teams work together to test, assess, and improve an organisation’s security posture. Instead of operating in isolation, both teams share insights in real-time to enhance threat detection, response, and prevention strategies.
Traditional red and blue team assessments are siloed—red attacks, blue defends. In contrast, purple teaming merges both perspectives into a shared mission. This approach enables continuous feedback, faster remediation, and more realistic simulations that improve overall security effectiveness.
Contact us today and we can work together to create a detailed plan based on your organisation’s cybersecurity needs.
Purple teaming uncovers real-world vulnerabilities while also strengthening internal processes and tools. It helps teams prioritise the most critical gaps, validate existing controls, and build stronger coordination between offensive and defensive security efforts.
For more information, explore our collection of expert guides or contact us today.
Yes. Purple teaming can be scaled to suit organisations of all sizes. For startups, it provides focused insights and actionable improvements without the overhead of large-scale testing. It’s an ideal way to mature your security practices efficiently and cost-effectively.
Every business should prioritsie a cybersecurity budget to protect themselves online.
Contact us for a personalised quote – once we have determined the scale of the required services we will be able to put together your cybersecurity plan.
Complete our form to get a free quote or speak to our Account Director, Daniel on 020 8088 0665
ROSCA Technologies is a trading name of Tudor Lodge Digital, a registered limited company in the UK under company 10437769
Address: 5 Fleet Place, London, EC4M 7RD
Opening Hours: 9AM-6PM Mon-Fri
Phone: 020 8088 0665
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