Simulated phishing is a technique used to train, educate, and assess the security awareness of an organization’s employees so they can recognize and avoid social engineering attacks in the future. Phishing simulation training is not limited to e-mail but may include text messages or phone calls as well.
Phishing attacks are a type of social engineering, which rely on human interaction to trick people into providing them with login credentials or other sensitive information. These attacks usually come in the form of an email, which appears to be from a legitimate source, such as a financial institution or website that you trust. The email will contain a phishing link to a fake website, which is designed to look like the real thing. When you enter your personal information into the fake website, the attacker now has access to your account. A fake email may also contain a phishing link to attachments designed to install malware onto the computer system of unsuspecting users.
A phishing simulation is an email that is sent to employees with the intention of tricking them into clicking on a link or opening an attachment. The primary objective is to create a sense of urgency so employees simply click on something without thinking twice about the potential risks associated with doing so without first verifying that this request comes from a valid source.
Simulated phishing tests can help to raise awareness of phishing attacks and train employees on how to identify and avoid them. Organizations can use simulated phishing tests to measure their susceptibility to phishing attacks and assess the effectiveness of their anti-phishing training. Simulated phishing provides organizations with another layer of protection because it helps ensure employees are recognizing signs of social engineering attacks regardless if their computer is infected with malware or an attacker has successfully compromised an account by guessing a password.
Simulated phishing attacks are also known as “security awareness training” or “phishing assessments”. Recognising the potential of simulated phishing to increase user response rates when exposed to real threats, many corporations are using these techniques as part of their broader security awareness training programs. Simulated phishing is becoming increasingly popular for its ability to generate quantifiable data on employees’ responses to known threats. These simulations can often reveal the following information about an organization’s workforce:
The best defense against a phishing attack is a strong security awareness phishing campaign & program that educates users on how to identify and report suspicious emails. A simulated phishing attack, aka spear phishing attack, is a great way to test user behaviour, their ability to identify phishing emails, and can help you fine-tune your security awareness training. Some users will pass and some users fail but the important thing is that the security awareness training teaches them to take their time, read things and take extra care with emails. It is also good practice to make sure that you are constantly re-evaluating your training methods to ensure that they are still effective. Simulated phishing attacks are usually the best way to achieve this goal.
At Bridge IT, we offer a number of services to help organizations with their simulated phishing emails & tests. Our mock phishing attacks are the perfect cyber security awareness training. We can provide you with a custom-branded phishing simulator, which can be used to send realistic-looking phishing emails to your employees. We can also provide you with comprehensive reports on the results of your simulations, which can be used to assess the effectiveness of your security awareness training.
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