The Colorful Spectrum of Cybersecurity: The Various Views That Define Our Digital Defense

The Colorful Spectrum of Cybersecurity: The Various Views That Define Our Digital Defense

In the colorful world of technology, everyone has a different vision. But when it comes to cybersecurity, these perspectives do not affect the usability of products only, they determine how we protect our tech stack. 

The Security Strategists: The  Deep Blues of Defense

Strategists are the type that analyze technologies with their analytical thinking skills and strategic planning skills, which are in the shades of blue and grey. They have a step-by-step approach toward each new technology:


"What risks are there to this? How does this fit into our  defense-in-depth strategy?"


To them, technology is not just the capabilities but a system with all its elements having to be tested for security before being accepted. They are for the systems that are robust and can withstand an attack while maintaining business operations, rather than having features that are pretty on the surface.

The  Creative Defenders: Purple Innovation

There are some security professionals who come up with security postures in  a purple light, which is not conventional but can be used to solve a threat:


"How can we think like the enemy to outsmart them? What other methods can be used to improve our security position?"


These aggressive defenders employ red-team exercises, bug bounties, and innovative threat modeling to paint security in business-like colors. They do not regard the preventive measures as rigid barriers but as puzzles to solve, how to ensure security without impairing usability.

The Practical Guardians: Realistic Greens

Realistic security experts work within the green realm of reality, which is reliable and realistic: "What  security features are most important for our situation, and how can we achieve them with our resources?" 


These individuals focus on the basics of security – updating software, using strong passwords, and educating employees – rather than the latest and greatest technologies. They realize that without addressing the basic security principles, all the sophisticated security products are just for show, and they help to keep cybersecurity discussions reasonable.

The Zero-Trust Advocates:  Wariness Ambers

The zero-trust mindset is explained through the lens of cautious amber, which is characterized by the absence of trust and the necessity to prove trust. 


The concept of castle and moat has been expanded; in the modern environment, trust has to be earned repeatedly. The amber vision also reveals the potential insider risks and highlights the need for gradual access control.

Your Security Color  Balance: How to Find It

Most effective security approaches combine these perspectives, which results in a harmony of  approaches:


  • The strategic blue of strategic planning

  • The creative purple of  thinking outside the box

  • The practical green of the basic security measures.

  • The  cautious amber of the zero-trust model


All of these viewpoints can be combined to form a security posture that is more cohesive than any one approach could offer. Notably, the organizations with the most formidable security postures recognize the importance of all these perspectives and develop security functions that are diverse in their membership.

The Spectrum Advantage

Through the realization of the different ways of looking at security issues, we get more effective protection. When the blue methodical strategist works with the purple creative thinker, with green practical guardians and amber zero-trust advocates, then security not only becomes stronger but also more flexible and able to respond to new threats.


Knowing your own ‘security color perspective’  will help you recognize your strengths as well as the value of other perspectives. There is a chance that you are more inclined to the practical green approach, but you may want to try to include more creative purple ideas. Security does not work well when you stay within your own comfort zone because adversaries use that to their advantage. A spectrum advantage allows for defense in depth on your tech stack. 


Cybersecurity is not only about the tools and technologies today; it is about the ways and means through which we contribute to the protection of our tech stacks. The success of one security approach depends on the understanding and implementation of other perspectives of security. 


What is your security color, and how can you improve it to ensure the safety of your digital assets?

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