Purple Teaming
Stop chasing gaps after the fact. Build detection capability in real time.
Red teaming reveals what attackers could do. Purple teaming fixes it – collaboratively, efficiently, and immediately. AMATAS purple teaming brings your red and blue teams together to test, measure, and improve detection coverage in a single focused exercise.
- MITRE ATT&CK aligned
- Fully collaborative
- Standalone or post-red team
Understanding the difference
Red teaming vs purple teaming - which do you need?
Both services simulate red teaming behavior – but they serve different objectives and work best at different stages of your security program.
Red Teaming
- Blue team unaware - realistic detection test
- Objective-based, no fixed scope
- Evaluates current detection coverage
- Weeks to months in duration
- Best for mature security programs
Purple Teaming
- Blue team fully involved - collaborative by design
- Technique-by-technique coverage improvement
- Immediate feedback & detection tuning
- Days to weeks in duration
- Effective at any maturity level
How it works
The purple team loop - execute, detect, improve, repeat
Research
The Threat Intelligence team researches threat actors and their behaviors to compile lists of tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTP) from all stages of the attack kill-chain.
Emulate
The Red Team prepares a test plan that emulates the chosen adversary behaviors based on the identified TTPs. They execute all test cases during the purple team exercise.
Collaborate
Both teams collaborate to emulate the threat behavior and check how the security defenses log, detect, and block the attacks. Defense gaps are identified and remediated in real time.
Learn
The Red Team learns from the Blue Team’s tactics and uses it to improve its tradecraft. The Blue Team observes how attacks are executes and improves its own procedures.
Who it's for
Purple teaming is the right fit when
You have a SOC or blue team
Purple teaming is the most efficient way to improve your team’s detection skills and tool coverage in a real environment.
You want measurable improvement
Unlike a red team report, purple teaming produces quantifiable ATT&CK coverage improvement that you can track and report on.
Post-red team gap closure
Your red team found detection gaps – purple teaming is the structured way to close them and confirm they’re genuinely fixed.
Regulated industries
DORA and NIS2 require documented evidence of detection and response capability improvement – purple teaming provides that evidence directly.
FAQ
Purple teaming - common questions
No – purple teaming is fully effective as a standalone engagement. We select techniques based on your threat profile and ATT&CK coverage objectives, without requiring prior red team findings as input. That said, purple teaming is also highly effective as a follow-on to a red team exercise – using the red team’s findings to prioritize which detection gaps to address first.
Your blue team needs access to your security tooling during the exercise: SIEM, EDR, NDR, or whatever detection infrastructure you have. Purple teaming works with whatever you currently have – it’s designed to improve your existing tooling, not require new investment before you start. We’ll review your current tooling coverage during scoping and tailor the technique selection to focus on areas where improvement will be most impactful.
A tabletop exercise tests your team’s response process through a simulated discussion – it doesn’t involve real attack execution or live detection testing. Purple teaming executes real techniques against your live environment, tests whether your tooling actually detects them, and improves detection logic on the spot. The difference is the gap between talking about what you’d detect and proving it in practice.
Ready to improve your detection coverage?
Talk to our team – we’ll scope the right purple team exercise for your tooling, threat profile, and objectives.
Often combined with purple teaming
Red Teaming
Covert adversary simulation that identifies detection gaps – which purple teaming then closes systematically.
Managed XDR (MXDR)
24/7 detection and response – purple teaming improves the detection rules and coverage that MXDR operates against.
Subscribe to our insights
Sign up to receive cyber news and updates