Cybersecurity & Information Security

Purple Team: How to Connect PT to Improve SOC Capabilities

6 min readPublished: August 5, 2026

Professional visual illustration on the topic of Purple Team in Threat Hunting and Detection

Quick answer

Purple Team begins with a question or behavior to identify, continues to define Telemetry and logic, and concludes with tests, Tuning, documentation, and controlled deployment. Quality is measured by coverage and investigative capability.

Threat Hunting and Detection Engineering transform knowledge of adversary behavior into measurable questions, data sources, and detection rules. The goal is not to generate more alerts, but to improve coverage and decision quality. This article focuses on Purple Team and is intended for SOC personnel, PT, and managers. The goal is to provide a working methodology that can be applied in practice, in a professional interview, and in a work environment, without settling for a dictionary definition.

The main challenge is that data is almost always partial. emulation objective, telemetry validation, detection gap can indicate a direction, but their meaning depends on time, asset, user, and anticipated activity. Therefore, we will build the test around an investigative question, required evidence, and a clear criterion for completion.

The practical scenario in the article is: Tabletop for a single Technique exercise. All examples are lab data or process descriptions. When dealing with Penetration Testing, Web, or Cloud, work only with explicit approval, a defined Scope, and the ability to stop the test.

What is Purple Team

The topic 'What is Purple Team' is a central part of Purple Team work. It is recommended to break it down into three questions: what is the input, what decision do you want to make, and what evidence is sufficient to justify it. These questions prevent automatic tool usage without understanding the goal.

In practice, record the emulation objective, telemetry validation, detection gap, tuning, retest, compare to expected behavior, and define at least one Pivot. The result should be verifiable by another analyst, including limitations and next steps.

Selecting Technique and Scope

The Purple Team process is built in stages with stopping points. Define a goal, Scope, sources, permitted actions, required evidence, roles, and a completion criterion. In offensive environments, add Stop conditions and an emergency channel.

Each stage must have a clear Output: asset map, Timeline, Finding, Rule, Playbook or report. Moving to the next stage only occurs when the Output is sufficient and reliable; this prevents random work or Scope expansion without approval.

Planning Telemetry and Success criteria

Controlled Execution and Gap analysis

The topic 'Controlled Execution and Gap analysis' is a central part of Purple Team work. It is recommended to break it down into three questions: what is the input, what decision do you want to make, and what evidence is sufficient to justify it. These questions prevent automatic tool usage without understanding the goal.

Detection improvement and Retest

A professional Purple Team test starts with success and failure conditions. Define a positive Case, a negative Case, a boundary Case, and similar legitimate activity. This allows identifying both False Negative and False Positive.

In an authorized environment, use a minimal action that proves the claim without causing harm. Save Input, Output, time, and version, and after correction, perform a Retest in the same scenario and also check Regression on nearby functions.

Unique Testing Focus Areas

In this topic, it is recommended to build a focused evidence map in advance. The main testing focus areas are: emulation objective, telemetry validation, detection gap, tuning, retest, evidence. The list is not an automatic Checklist; each item is chosen because it can connect an entity, action, and time or explain legitimate behavior.

emulation objective: Define the expected value, what would be considered anomalous, and what additional source would validate the finding.
telemetry validation: Define the expected value, what would be considered anomalous, and what additional source would validate the finding.
detection gap: Define the expected value, what would be considered anomalous, and what additional source would validate the finding.
tuning: Define the expected value, what would be considered anomalous, and what additional source would validate the finding.
retest: Define the expected value, what would be considered anomalous, and what additional source would validate the finding.
evidence: Define the expected value, what would be considered anomalous, and what additional source would validate the finding.

If one of the focus areas is unavailable, document the gap and choose an alternative. For example, if a Process identifier is unstable, you can use time, Host, User, and Parent; if Payload is encrypted, use Metadata, volume, frequency, and TLS/DNS context.

Recommended Workflow

Define a Scope and one working question for Purple Team.
List the necessary data sources and evidence: emulation objective, telemetry validation, detection gap, tuning.
Create a short Baseline of normal behavior or expected outcome.
Perform the minimal test in a lab environment and record time, input, and output.
Build a Timeline or comparison table and separate fact from interpretation.
Pivot to an additional source to confirm or refute the initial explanation.
Summarize the decision, limitations, recommended action, and Retest criterion.

Practical Scenario

The chosen scenario is a Tabletop for a single Technique exercise. The goal of the exercise is not to prove attack capability, but to practice collection, comparison, and documentation safely. Before starting, define simulated data, a time window, and an expected outcome.

At the end of the exercise, a product should be submitted that another analyst or tester can review: a screenshot or Export of the evidence, a short Timeline, an initial assumption, corroborating evidence, a limitation, and a recommendation. If there is insufficient evidence, the correct conclusion is that the scenario was not proven.

Stage	What is performed	Output
Preparation	Define Scope, time, and objective. List which fields or evidence from emulation objective, telemetry validation, detection gap are expected to appear.	Short test plan
Data Creation	Perform a safe and simulated action related to Purple Team, without real information or impact on a production system.	Controlled event/Request/Flow
Collection	Collect the raw evidence and context from another source. Ensure Time zone, identifiers, and integrity.	Two linked pieces of evidence
Analysis	Write what each piece of evidence proves, what it does not prove, and what the possible legitimate explanation is.	Interim conclusion
Completion	Choose closure, escalation, Finding, or Tuning; add a recommendation and Retest.	Documented output

Practical Checklist

Check and document: Hypothesis.
Check and document: ATT&CK technique.
Check and document: Data sources.
Check and document: Detection logic.
Check and document: Expected benign behavior.
Check and document: Test cases and coverage.
Note Time zone, tool version, and collection time.
Save the raw data before filtering or modification.
Write what the finding proves and what is still unknown.
Define owner and next action with a deadline.

Common Mistakes

Starting from a random IOC without Hypothesis.
Mapping ATT&CK by name only.
Writing a Rule without Test cases.
Ignoring legitimate behavior.
Measuring Rules instead of Coverage.
Not managing versions.

Summary and CTA

Purple Team: How to Connect PT to Improve SOC Capabilities is a topic that combines technical knowledge with work discipline. Start with a question, collect only relevant evidence, maintain context and time, and choose an action that can be justified and re-tested.

In HPI's Cybersecurity & AI track, these principles are practiced using systems, logs, and labs. A natural continuation is to move to the linked articles, perform the lab exercise, and save the output as part of a professional portfolio.

FAQ

Does Purple Team alone prove an attack or weakness?

No. It provides a signal or finding that requires context, validation, and an additional source. A professional conclusion relies on a sequence of evidence and alignment with expected behavior.

What to do when some data is missing?

Document the missing information, check an alternative source, and reduce the level of confidence. Do not fill in fields with speculation or present Unknown as valid.

How long should evidence be kept?

The time depends on policy, regulation, cost, and type of event. It is important to define Retention, Legal hold, and the ability to export evidence in a verifiable format in advance.

How to practice without risking a real system?

Use virtual machines, simulated data, CTF, or a dedicated lab. In authorized tests, define Scope, Stop conditions, and backup before starting work.