Red, Blue & Purple Teams in Cybersecurity: Key Differences Explained

Blue Team vs. Red Team vs. Purple Team in Cybersecurity:
What’s the Difference?

Introduction

When protecting an organization from cyber threats, it’s essential to think in terms of both
offensive and defensive strategies. Defensive strategies focus on protecting systems and
responding to threats. Offensive strategies proactively find vulnerabilities—often by simulating
real-world cyberattacks.
This is where Blue Teams, Red Teams, and Purple Teams come in. Each team plays a unique
role in cybersecurity defense, offense, or collaboration.

Blue Team: The Defenders

Blue Teams are responsible for defensive cybersecurity operations. Their job is to detect,
respond to, and recover from cyberattacks. Key tasks include:

• Monitoring networks and systems for suspicious activity
• Hardening systems by applying patches and reducing vulnerabilities
• Conducting regular risk assessments
• Performing incident response and threat hunting
• Analyzing logs and security alerts from SIEM and EDR tools
• Counteracting red team attacks during internal tests

They are the front line of protection when an attack happens in real life.

Red Team: The Attackers

Red Teams focus on offensive security by simulating attacks to test a company’s defenses.
Their purpose is to think like a hacker and uncover weaknesses before real threat actors do.
Common red team activities include:

• Penetration testing (see What Is Pen Testing and What Skills & Knowledge Do You Need)
• Social engineering (like phishing simulations)
• Exploiting misconfigurations or insecure code
• Bypassing physical and digital security controls
• Reporting vulnerabilities and sharing remediation advice

These teams challenge the security posture of an organization to expose gaps and risks.

Purple Team: The Collaborators

Purple Teams are where defense meets offense. Rather than working in silos, blue and red teams
collaborate and communicate to strengthen overall security. Purple teaming includes:

• Sharing tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs)
• Coordinating attack simulations with real-time defense analysis
• Jointly refining detection rules, alerts, and incident response playbooks
• Using red team findings to improve blue team readiness

This approach enhances visibility, learning, and organizational resilience.

Final Thoughts

Understanding the roles of blue, red, and purple teams in cybersecurity helps organizations create
a well-rounded security strategy. Whether defending from active threats, simulating attacks, or
blending both approaches, the ultimate goal of each team is to build stronger, smarter
defenses.

By recognizing how these teams work together—or challenge each other—you can better protect
systems, data, and people in an increasingly complex digital world.