Do Phishing Simulations Work?
Interested in discovering how our realistic phishing simulations operate within your organisation?
Strengthen Employee Defences with Realistic Phishing Simulations
Phishing simulations test the ability of employees to recognise and respond appropriately to phishing attacks. They do this by mimicking real-world phishing attempts, using the same kind of strategies and approaches as the criminals.
Why choose a phishing simulation for your organisation?
- Phishing campaigns create a safe environment for employees
- Practice spotting and reporting suspicious emails
- Minimise the risk of real data breaches
- Avoid major cyber incidents
An Effective Way To Test Your Team’s Readiness
Phishing simulations work by creating realistic, but entirely fake phishing-style emails that are then sent to employees within an organisation.
- They are carefully designed by Cyber Security experts to mimic common phishing tactics, such as urgent messages and spoofed sender addresses.
- They will frequently contain fake malicious links and attachments.
When an employee interacts with one of these simulated phishing emails, the action will be logged. If the employee clicks a link or enters credentials that could potentially be valuable to a criminal, they may be redirected to a training page.
- This will explain what they have done and will educate them on what they did wrong, how to spot phishing attempts, and best practices to avoid real scams going forward. This eliminates a no-blame culture within your organisation and turns mistakes into a learning opportunity.
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Effectiveness of Phishing Simulations
Typically, phishing simulations will reflect the kind of security challenges that different organisations and professionals may face. Many phishing scams are highly sophisticated and targeted, which can make them more difficult to stop. Phishing simulation tests help to establish a baseline understanding of your team’s current level of preparedness.
Failings and particular blind spots can be addressed directly, informing future training needs. Future phishing tests can then measure the impact of any training on the initial baseline responses.
- So do phishing simulations work? The answer is a very clear, yes.
The Phishing Test Process
A phishing simulation will begin with the planning and design stage. The objectives, scope, and type of phishing scenarios to be simulated will be set out. The content will be customised to reflect realistic threats that the organisation might face.
- Simulated phishing emails will then be sent to a selected group of employees. This can be done in waves to manage the training process. Employee interactions will be monitored, including clicks on links, downloads of attachments, and submission of sensitive information. Employees who fall for the simulation will be provided with targeted training that details the red flags they missed and how to avoid making the same mistake in the future.
- Phishing simulations can lead to lasting behaviour change when they’re conducted regularly and combined with effective training. This training should be based on data gathered during the testing process such as click rates, reporting rates, and patterns in the data such as particular departmental vulnerabilities.
- Working with a professional Cyber Security team who understands current threats, phishing simulation testing can be a valuable tool for understanding weaknesses and addressing them on an ongoing basis.
Comprehensive Cyber Security Awareness Training from Equilibrium Security
Cyber Security Awareness training from Equilibrium Security can empower your team to be the first line of defence against evolving cyber threats. It ensures your team can master essential skills, enabling them to identify and counter online threats before they have the chance to develop.
Contact us to find out more about our bespoke Cyber Security training programmes.