Buyer guide

Security assessment vs. penetration test vs. purple team.

Use this guide to choose the right validation work based on what you need to prove, what you already know, and whether your team needs findings, detection evidence, or hands-on remediation.

Compare options See validation services

Decision guide

Start with the question you need answered.

If you need to know...	Choose...	Best output	Not ideal when...
What are our biggest practical security gaps?	Security assessment	Broad findings, prioritized roadmap, evidence gaps.	You need exploit proof for a narrow technical target.
Can this app, cloud path, or identity path be exploited?	Penetration test	Proof of exploitable weaknesses and fix priorities.	You mainly need policy, process, or program review.
Would our tools and responders catch realistic attacker behavior?	Purple team exercise	Detection evidence, response gaps, control validation.	You do not have logging, alerts, or response owners in place yet.
Which findings should we fix first and how?	Remediation support	Implementation plan, hands-on fixes, evidence of change.	You have not identified or validated the underlying gaps.

Scoping worksheet

Decision to make What decision will this work support: funder evidence, customer trust, production launch, incident follow-up, insurance, or internal prioritization?
Systems in scope List the app, cloud account, identity provider, endpoints, data stores, vendors, or workflows you want tested or reviewed.
Evidence needed Decide whether you need screenshots, logs, control summaries, remediation notes, executive summary, or technical proof.
Who needs the result Name the audience: board, funder, customer, auditor, engineering team, security team, or executive director.
What happens next Decide who will own remediation and whether hands-on fix support is needed after the report.

Rule of thumb

Questions beat labels.

If the question is “what are our biggest gaps?”, start with an assessment. If it is “can this be exploited?”, scope a penetration test. If it is “would we catch this?”, run purple team validation. If it is “how do we fix this?”, scope remediation support.