What are red teams and blue teams in cybersecurity?
Red teams are offensive security professionals who simulate real attackers to test your organization's defenses. They use the same tactics, techniques, and procedures that malicious actors employ to find weaknesses before actual attackers can exploit them.
Blue teams are defensive security specialists who protect your organization's systems, detect threats, and respond to incidents. They operate from security operations centers and use various security tools to defend against attacks in real-time.
The concept originated from military war games where forces were divided into opposing teams for training exercises. In cybersecurity, this approach provides a controlled environment to test security capabilities without the consequences of a real breach. Exercises should follow clear rules of engagement (ROE), legal approvals, and safety controls to avoid business disruption. ROE typically define scope boundaries, prohibited actions, data handling, and escalation procedures.
Red teams might use social engineering, exploit vulnerabilities, or attempt privilege escalation. Blue teams deploy layered defenses—identity hardening and least privilege, network segmentation, EDR/CDR, and security information and event management (SIEM)—to prevent, detect, and respond. This defense-in-depth approach addresses cloud-native attack vectors where identity is the new perimeter.
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Core differences between red teams and blue teams
Red teams focus on finding and exploiting vulnerabilities by thinking creatively about attack vectors. They demonstrate potential impact through successful breaches and work to achieve specific objectives like accessing sensitive data or gaining administrative control.
Blue teams concentrate on prevention, detection, and response. They build robust defenses and maintain continuous monitoring to identify suspicious activities.
Key operational differences:
Red teams work in time-boxed engagements lasting weeks or months, documenting attack paths and creating proof-of-concept exploits
Blue teams operate continuously, maintaining security baselines and analyzing security events based on threat intelligence
Red teams measure success by compromising systems and accessing sensitive data
Blue teams measure success through mean time to detect, mean time to respond, and percentage of attacks blocked
Red teams often work in stealth mode to avoid detection and simulate advanced persistent threats. Blue teams focus on improving defensive capabilities through lessons learned from incidents and continuous security monitoring.
| Aspect | Red Team | Blue Team | Purple Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| Objective | Find exploitable vulnerabilities | Prevent, detect, respond to threats | Collaborative improvement |
| Time horizon | Time-boxed (weeks/months) | Continuous operations | Iterative sessions |
| Success metrics | Systems compromised, objectives achieved | Mean time to detect/respond, attacks blocked | Knowledge transferred, gaps closed |
| Typical tools | Metasploit, Cobalt Strike, custom exploits | SIEM, EDR/CDR, CSPM | Shared platforms, documentation |
| Mindset | Adversarial, creative | Defensive, systematic | Collaborative, learning-focused |
Essential skills for red and blue teams
Red team members need deep technical expertise to mimic real attackers effectively. They must understand how to leverage vulnerabilities in applications, networks, and cloud services.
Red team skills:
Exploitation techniques: Understanding how to leverage vulnerabilities in applications, networks, and cloud services
Social engineering: Crafting convincing phishing campaigns and pretexting scenarios
Programming and scripting: Developing custom exploits and automation tools
Cloud security: Understanding cloud-specific attack vectors and misconfigurations
Blue team skills:
Security monitoring: Analyzing logs and network traffic for signs of attacks
Incident response: Following procedures to contain and remediate threats
Threat intelligence: Understanding threat actor tactics and incorporating intelligence into defenses
Security architecture: Designing and implementing layered security controls
Red team vs blue team exercises in cloud environments
Cloud environments present unique challenges for both red and blue teams. Their dynamic nature, shared responsibility model, and API-driven architecture require specialized approaches, particularly given the 500% surge in cloud account detections in early 2025.
Red teams must understand cloud-specific attack vectors like compromising IAM roles, exploiting serverless vulnerabilities, and pivoting through misconfigured network segmentation. They need to navigate multi-cloud environments and abuse legitimate cloud services for command and control or data exfiltration.
Blue teams face challenges maintaining visibility across ephemeral resources and containerized workloads. They must implement cloud-native security controls and monitor control-plane activity through AWS CloudTrail, Azure Activity Logs, and Google Cloud Audit Logs.
Cloud environments benefit from security tools designed specifically for their dynamic nature. Cloud-native application protection platforms and specialized solutions provide the context needed to effectively protect cloud resources at scale.
Common cloud exercise scenarios:
Attacking exposed storage buckets(S3, Azure Blob, GCS)
Exploiting overly permissive IAM policiesfor privilege escalation
Compromising container orchestration platforms(Kubernetes, ECS, AKS)
Abusing serverless functions for persistenceand command-and-control
Abusing instance metadata service (e.g., IMDSv1) via SSRF to obtain credentials
Blue teams detect these attacks through cloud activity monitoring. Here's what they look for across different attack vectors:
IAM abuse detection:
CloudTrail: CreateAccessKey, AttachUserPolicy, PutUserPolicy events from unusual source IPs
Azure Activity Logs: Role assignment changes outside business hours
GCP Audit Logs: setIamPolicy calls granting broad permissions
Storage exposure detection:
S3 access logs: GetObject requests from unfamiliar geographic regions
Azure Storage Analytics: Public blob container creation
GCS audit logs: setIamPolicy making buckets publicly readable
Kubernetes compromise detection:
Audit logs: Pod creation with privileged security context
Audit logs: Secret or ConfigMap access by unauthorized service accounts
Audit logs: Exec commands into running containers
Metadata service abuse:
VPC Flow Logs: Traffic to 169.254.169.254 from unexpected processes
Process telemetry: curl/wget accessing metadata endpoints
CloudTrail: AssumeRole calls using temporary credentials from metadata service
Serverless persistence:
CloudTrail: Lambda function creation or UpdateFunctionCode outside deployment windows
Azure Activity Logs: Function app configuration changes
GCP Audit Logs: Cloud Function deployment from unfamiliar accounts
Beyond detection, blue teams implement preventive controls like security groups, network ACLs, routing controls, and Kubernetes NetworkPolicies. These layered controls enforce segmentation at the cloud network layer, subnet boundaries, and container communication paths. They also respond to incidents that span multiple cloud services and regions.
MITRE ATT&CK coverage for cloud exercises:
Red teams commonly simulate these cloud-native tactics from the MITRE ATT&CK framework:
Initial Access (T1078): Valid accounts via compromised credentials or access keys
Privilege Escalation (T1098): Account manipulation through IAM policy changes
Credential Access (T1552.005): Cloud instance metadata API exploitation
Lateral Movement (T1550.001): Use of alternate authentication material (temporary credentials)
Exfiltration (T1537): Transfer data to cloud account
Blue teams build detections for these TTPs using:
CloudTrail/Activity Logs for unusual IAM changes (CreateAccessKey, AttachUserPolicy)
Metadata service access patterns (IMDSv1 requests from unexpected processes)
Cross-account AssumeRole activity to unfamiliar accounts
Large data transfers to external S3/GCS/Azure Storage buckets
Kubernetes audit logs for unauthorized pod creation or secret access
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The purple team approach to collaborative security
Purple teams represent a collaborative approach where red and blue teams work together rather than in opposition. This methodology breaks down the traditional adversarial model in favor of cooperative learning, with 62% of organizations implementing joint red-blue team exercises to foster collaboration.
During purple team exercises, red team members pause after each attack phase to explain their techniques. Blue team members share their detection logic and response procedures in real-time.
The purple team approach accelerates security improvements by eliminating the traditional report-and-remediate cycle. Instead of waiting until the end of an engagement to share findings, teams collaborate immediately.
This immediate feedback helps blue teams tune their detection capabilities. Red teams gain insights into defensive blind spots and can adjust their tactics accordingly.
Purple team benefits:
Enhanced knowledge transfer between offensive and defensive teams
Faster identification and remediation of security gaps
Improved team morale through collaborative problem-solving
Deeper exploration of specific attack techniques and targeted defenses
Purple team exercises often focus on specific scenarios or threat actors. This allows teams to deeply explore particular attack techniques and develop targeted defenses.
Benefits and challenges of implementing red and blue teams
Benefits of red and blue team programs
Red and blue team programs validate your security controls through realistic attack simulations. These exercises reveal security gaps that automated scanners miss and test your incident response procedures under pressure.
Key benefits include:
Evidence-based security metrics: You gain quantifiable data to justify security investments and demonstrate ROI to stakeholders
Hands-on expertise development: Your teams develop deeper security knowledge through real attack and defense scenarios
Realistic vulnerability discovery: Exercises uncover exploitable weaknesses that traditional scanning tools overlook
Incident response validation: You test your response procedures under realistic pressure before facing actual threats
Compliance demonstration: Programs provide audit evidence for frameworks like ISO 27001, SOC 2, and PCI DSS
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Challenges of implementing red and blue teams
Building effective red and blue teams requires significant investment in specialized talent, tools, and training. Many organizations face substantial hurdles when establishing these programs.
Common implementation challenges:
Talent acquisition and retention:Finding professionals who can effectively simulate sophisticated attacks or respond to complex incidents remains difficult
High program costs: Tools, training, and personnel expenses create budget constraints for many organizations
Resource intensity: Exercises require significant time and effort, limiting frequency and scope—only 41% of organizations conduct or utilize red team services, according to the 2024 Core Security Penetration Testing Survey Report
Cultural friction: Teams operating in isolation may view exercise results as failures rather than learning opportunities
Assessment gaps: Resource constraints create long intervals between exercises, reducing program effectiveness
Organizations must foster a blameless culture that encourages learning from security exercises. Identified vulnerabilities should be seen as opportunities for improvement rather than pointing fingers at specific teams.
How red and blue team exercises support compliance
Red and blue team exercises provide evidence for multiple compliance frameworks and regulatory requirements. These programs demonstrate due diligence in security testing and incident response preparedness.
ISO 27001 requires organizations to test information security controls (A.12.6.1) and incident response procedures (A.16.1.5). Red team exercises validate technical controls while blue team operations demonstrate detection and response capabilities.
SOC 2 Type II Common Criteria 7.3 requires monitoring of system components and security incidents. Blue team continuous monitoring and red team validation of detection capabilities provide audit evidence.
PCI DSS 4.0 Requirement 11.4.7 mandates multi-layered penetration testing at least annually. Red team exercises that simulate card data compromise satisfy this requirement while providing deeper insights than traditional pen tests.
NIST Cybersecurity Framework Detect (DE) and Respond (RS) functions map directly to blue team operations. Red team exercises validate the effectiveness of these capabilities under realistic attack conditions.
Document exercise findings, remediation timelines, and control improvements to demonstrate continuous security improvement for auditors and regulators.
Measuring success in red team vs blue team programs
You need different metrics for red and blue teams that align with their distinct objectives. This data-driven approach helps you quantify your security posture and track improvements over time.
Red team success metrics:
Time to initial compromise: How quickly the red team gains first access
Attack paths discovered:Number of exploitable routes to critical assets
Objectives achieved:Percentage of mission goals completed (data access, privilege escalation)
Attack sophistication: Complexity of techniques successfully executed
Persistence duration:Ability to maintain access without detection
Blue team success metrics:
Mean time to detect (MTTD): Average time to identify threats
Detection rate:Percentage of attacks successfully identified
False positive rate: Ratio of incorrect alerts to valid threats
Mean time to contain (MTTC): Average time to stop active threats
Monitoring coverage: Percentage of assets with active security controls
Log coverage (CloudTrail, Azure Activity Logs, GCP Audit Logs)
EDR deployment rate across endpoints
Workloads with runtime protection
You should establish baseline measurements before beginning exercises. Track improvement over successive engagements to see if security investments are yielding results.
Trending analysis reveals whether your security strategies are effective. It helps identify persistent weaknesses requiring additional attention.
Regular exercises create a feedback loop where each iteration builds upon previous learnings. This continuous improvement approach strengthens your overall security posture over time.
Beyond tracking detection and response times, measure how quickly your teams close the remediation loop from discovery to permanent fix. When red teams uncover vulnerabilities during exercises, trace them back to their origin—whether that's a code repository, infrastructure-as-code template, or container image—and measure the time from discovery to merged pull request, not just runtime patch deployment. This code-to-cloud remediation metric reveals whether you're eliminating root causes or repeatedly addressing symptoms. Organizations that fix issues at the source prevent the same vulnerabilities from reappearing across environments, turning exercise findings into lasting security improvements.
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Read moreHow Wiz transforms red and blue team operations
Wiz provides the shared context and visibility needed to bridge the gap between offensive and defensive teams. The platform turns adversarial simulations into actionable risk reduction.
Wiz Security Graph provides both red and blue teams with a shared, contextual map of your cloud environment across AWS, Azure, GCP, and Kubernetes. This enables more effective purple team exercises with comprehensive visibility into resources, relationships, identities, and data flows.
Key Wiz capabilities for team exercises:
Wiz ASM shows red teams exactly how to chain risks together. It helps blue teams prioritize which alerts represent real, exploitable attack paths.
Wiz Defend detects red team tactics like lateral movement and privilege escalation in real-time. This enables blue teams to practice incident response with high-fidelity alerts.
Agentless approach reduces blind spots across cloud control plane and workloads that red teams typically exploit, including ephemeral resources, serverless functions, and multi-account configurations
Broad visibility across code, cloud, and runtime environments, including repositories, IaC templates, cloud configurations, and workload telemetry
Code-to-cloud correlation traces runtime risks back to the originating repositories, commits, IaC definitions, and vulnerable components, enabling developers to fix issues at the source
Attack Surface Management maps external entry points it discovers for reconnaissance, including internet-exposed services, APIs, and cloud storage buckets
Wiz Code enables purple team feedback loops by tracing issues back to developers. This allows for permanent remediation at the source rather than just patching symptoms.
Ready to give your red and blue teams the cloud visibility they need? Get a demo and see how Wiz turns exercises into measurable risk reduction across your entire cloud estate.
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