The cybersecurity colour wheel

Let’s explore the cybersecurity colour wheel.

In the world of cybersecurity, the colourful teams—red, blue, purple, yellow, green, orange, and white—aren’t just essential players in an organisation’s security strategy; they’re also participants in a complex legal landscape. Every simulation, test, or training exercise carries potential legal consequences, and safeguarding these activities requires careful legal oversight, robust contracts, and clear delineation of responsibilities.

The article tells you how each team’s operations intersect with legal frameworks and what organisations must consider to stay on the right side of compliance and risk management.

The cybersecurity colour wheel

Red teams: Troublemakers

Think of the red team as the strategic instigators of cybersecurity.

These cyber-offensive players simulate attacks to expose weaknesses, delighting in the mischief of exposing an organisation’s Achilles’ heel. Like a group of pranksters who sneak into a fortress to test its defences, they’ll employ penetration testing, phishing, social engineering, and even physical infiltration if it helps them achieve their end goal.

An example? In the financial sector, red teams might try breaking into online banking platforms or AI models, simulating attacks that real hackers would attempt. When they find vulnerabilities (and they almost always do), they offer a rude awakening, forcing the organisation to confront just how thin their security blanket might be. And that’s their value: they’re reality-check artists, helping organisations plug gaps before someone with malicious intent finds them.

Blue teams: Guardians

If red teams are the tricksters, blue teams are the guardians, tirelessly keeping the peace.

While red teams stage attacks, blue teams create shields, patrolling the network, sniffing out anomalies, and managing incident responses. It’s thankless, perhaps, but it’s absolutely essential.

Take a real-world example in the healthcare sector: Blue teams defend systems containing sensitive patient data. When the red team tries to infiltrate, the blue team works to block, detect, and respond to these staged breaches. They deploy everything from log analysis to automated detection systems to make sure that, day in and day out, systems remain secure. They remind us that security isn’t a one-time investment—it’s an ongoing practice, as rigorous as any military drill.

Purple teams: Negotiators

Purple teams bring balance to the red and blue rivalry by facilitating communication and collaboration between the two.

Think of them as peacekeepers or diplomats. Instead of letting the red team’s findings languish or the blue team’s defences go untested, purple teams help bridge the divide, bringing offensive and defensive tactics into harmony.

For instance, in government agencies, purple teams can help shape security drills that are as close to real-world threats as possible. By making sure that insights from red team exercises are swiftly integrated into blue team defences, they turn a one-time exercise into a continuous improvement cycle. Purple teams demonstrate that sometimes the best solutions aren’t found in isolation—they’re born from cross-pollination.

Yellow teams: Code crafters

Yellow teams are the quiet architects, ensuring that code itself is designed to resist attacks.

They’re the builders of secure software, taking on the unsung but essential task of developing security-first applications. Yellow teams are specialists in DevSecOps, seamlessly weaving security into the very fabric of code. For those new to the industry, “DevSecOps” refers to an approach that integrates security into every stage of software development and operations, ensuring applications are built and maintained with safety in mind.

Consider an organisation in enterprise software. By ensuring that each line of code is secure from the outset, the yellow team prevents vulnerabilities from becoming systemic issues. They remind us of the simple truth that secure software isn’t born overnight; it’s crafted, reviewed, and tested at every step. When vulnerabilities are prevented at the code level, they often save organisations from dealing with potentially catastrophic breaches down the road.

Green team: Automation engineers

The green team takes the operational reins, focusing on automating security protocols to keep systems up to date.

Like systems engineers, they don’t just apply security—they automate it, ensuring that security processes are fast, reliable, and scalable. They work closely with development and operations to create pipelines where every patch, update, or deployment is secured automatically, almost as if by magic.

Picture a multinational enterprise with a vast IT ecosystem. Here, the green team automates the deployment of security patches, ensuring that the organisation is always protected, even as new vulnerabilities emerge. They represent security at scale, where human oversight gives way to automated resilience, ensuring that the enterprise is not only secure but also adaptable.

Orange team: Culture builders

Orange teams focus on the most unpredictable part of security—people.

They train, educate, and cultivate a security-first mindset within the organisation. Think of them as the cybersecurity educators, running phishing simulations and awareness workshops, and building the proverbial “human firewall”.

In industries like finance or healthcare, where sensitive data is frequently targeted, the orange team’s work is vital. Their training might mean the difference between an employee clicking a phishing link or reporting it. They are the architects of a culture where every employee becomes a frontline defender against threats, and their impact on reducing human error is profound.

White team: Referees

The white team sits above the fray, overseeing and moderating security exercises.

Like referees, they ensure that each team is playing fairly, within the bounds of the organisation’s security policies and standards. The white team’s role is especially valuable in highly regulated industries, where compliance and oversight are critical.

For example, in a red team exercise, the white team might make sure that the simulated attack adheres to specific guidelines, safeguarding the exercise from unintended disruption. By keeping everyone honest, they ensure that security exercises produce actionable insights without putting day-to-day operations at risk.

Legal and commercial considerations

Team	Legal considerations	Commercial considerations
Red team	– Compliance with data protection laws when simulating attacks. – Employee privacy concerns in social engineering tests.	– Potential disruption to operations during testing. – Liability clauses in contracts to define responsibility.
Blue team	– Privacy regulations for monitoring sensitive data. – Timely breach notifications to regulatory bodies.	– Balancing the cost of monitoring tools with their effectiveness. – Ensuring minimal disruption to business continuity.
Purple team	– Secure handling of sensitive data from red and blue teams. – Compliance with confidentiality agreements and NDAs.	– Addressing inefficiencies revealed in collaboration. – Aligning red and blue goals to avoid delays in implementing fixes.
Yellow team	– Adherence to “privacy by design” and “security by design” principles. – Liability for vulnerabilities in released software.	– Higher development costs for secure coding. – Contracts with developers to ensure compliance with security standards.
Green team	– Misconfigurations in automation leading to breaches. – Secure storage and access control for generated logs.	– Initial investment in automation tools. – Vendor contracts with SLAs for ongoing maintenance and updates.
Orange team	– Sensitivity in phishing simulations to avoid privacy or HR issues. – Use of third-party training content must respect IP laws.	– Improved employee awareness reduces breach risks. – Measuring the ROI of training programmes to justify costs.
White team	– Documentation for audits and compliance with laws. – Oversight to ensure ethical and legal boundaries in exercises.	– Ensuring cybersecurity efforts align with business goals. – Accountability measures in contracts for effective governance.

How ITLawCo can help you navigate the cybersecurity colour wheel with legal precision

At ITLawCo, we understand that cybersecurity isn’t just a checklist—it’s a constantly evolving ecosystem with complex legal implications. Our expertise lies in bringing these colours together with rigorous legal oversight, robust contracts, and clear responsibilities. With our deep technical knowledge, legal insight, and a keen sense of strategy, we ensure that each layer of your cybersecurity approach not only complies with the latest regulations but also strengthens your overall resilience.

Here’s how we help you create a legally secure and harmonious cybersecurity landscape:

1. Advising on red and blue team integration: Whether you’re looking to test your defences or fortify them, ITLawCo works with your red and blue teams to implement threat simulations and response plans that uncover gaps before real attackers do. We draft the necessary contracts to ensure compliance and clarity.
2. Building effective purple team frameworks: We act as the bridge between your red and blue efforts, developing contracts and protocols that turn exercises into a continuous improvement cycle. By clarifying roles and responsibilities, we help you achieve a proactive security posture.
3. Embedding security in development with yellow and green teams: Our consultants advise on secure-by-design principles and automated resilience for your software and infrastructure. From DevSecOps to CI/CD security, we help you make sure security is baked in from code to deployment, with SLAs and contractual terms to reinforce compliance.
4. Cultivating a security-first culture with orange teams: ITLawCo provides training agreements and resources to equip your teams with awareness while ensuring all simulations meet ethical and legal standards. Our policies support a workforce that takes cybersecurity as seriously as you do.
5. Ensuring compliance and governance with white teams: As experts in regulatory compliance and cybersecurity governance, we provide oversight contracts that detail white team authority and the legal standards every exercise must meet.

ITLawCo doesn’t just help you paint a colourful security picture—we bring each colour together into a cohesive, legally sound masterpiece. With a holistic view that spans law, IT, and public policy, we’re here to make sure your organisation is not only compliant but also resilient, prepared, and confident in the face of emerging threats. Contact us today.