Within cybersecurity are there teams focused on different types of exercises that require taking either an offensive or defensive approach for remediation. The objective of all the teams are to improve cybersecurity posture.
The exercises allow members of the teams to test their capability and hone in their skillset within a safe environment. The teams are differentiated by colours and what they choose to participate in.
Red Team
The members of the Red team specialise in taking offensive measures, and from my perspective they just want to see the world burn. They use their skills during exercises to mimic a real-world threat environment and provide a test of defensive capabilities.
Members of the red team are highly skilled individuals and the team therefore mostly works through third-party contractors. They test various defences and the members may change based on what is required (skills differ). (red team)
Blue Team
The blue team establishes the defences such as firewalls and security appliances, managing permissions, and logging. Additionally they provide monitoring and incident response.
Members of the Blue team are typically in house IT and security department members. Their work can be outsourced however that adds complexity with negotiations and additional contracts.(blue team)
White Team
They white team are the judges, and they are involved when scoring or a competitive perspective is needed. They are able to coordinate and manage the job from an outside view ensuring that everything stays on track. (white team)
Purple Team
The purple team is formed with a combination of red and blue team members, who work alongside each other to create and test defences. With this approach a deeper understanding is gained between the two sides of the action coin.
This team allows the red team members to help the blue team members within this team to understand the attackers perspective. I believe that the members of this group think things through before they start typing. (purple team)
All of the above mentioned teams aim to improve a firms cybersecurity posture. No matter the team these individuals are highly skilled, and their services are of great value to any company.