How to Implement Automated Phishing Simulations

Summary

Human error is the weakest link in any business’s cybersecurity. It takes just one employee falling for one phishing attempt to let an attacker past even the most sophisticated defenses. Consequently, employee training is essential and automated phishing simulations are an ideal part of that training.

Benefits of automated phishing simulations

Phishing may not be the only human-targeting attack businesses face, but it is the most prominent. More than 90% of all cyberattacks begin with phishing, and the best way to stop these attacks is to teach authorized users to spot them.
 
Simulations are an important part of this education because instruction alone often fails to produce optimal results. Experiencing something firsthand is a more impactful and engaging way to learn. Simulating an attack also helps businesses gauge their employees’ anti-phishing readiness and see where they must improve.
 
Even a poor result from a phishing simulation is useful. IT admins will know what points to emphasize in future training to ensure their security measures are relevant to their specific risks.
 
Because these tests are automated, businesses can run them without adding to security teams’ workloads. That’s a crucial advantage, considering two in five IT workers are at high risk of burnout.

How to run a successful phishing simulation

Like any other security measure, the efficacy of a phishing simulation hinges on its implementation. Here are five steps businesses can follow to perform an effective test.

1. Train employees
IT staff must train employees before testing them. Employees won’t perform well if they don’t know how to spot or respond appropriately to a phishing attempt. As such, any simulation without prior training can’t measure the effectiveness of the company’s anti-phishing protocols.
 
This training should cover common signs of a phishing attack at a minimum and ideally go over specific steps for responding to a suspected phishing attempt. These actions include contacting IT admins, flagging emails and changing passwords if necessary.

2. Identify relevant threat trends
Next, businesses should refine the scope of their phishing simulation. Simulating every possible type of phishing attack is time-consuming and impractical, so organizations must determine what threats are most relevant to them.
 
Current trends are a good place to start. For example, telephone-oriented attack delivery (TOAD) incidents are growing, but just 23% of organizations train their employees to spot them. Consequently, TOAD simulations may be among the most beneficial. Businesses can also look at breaches in their specific industry or common attacks against the tools their teams use.

3. Choose the right tools
Once organizations know what kinds of phishing attacks to simulate, they can choose an appropriate simulation software. Anti-phishing tools vary widely in features, cost and ease of implementation, so it’s important to consider them carefully.
 
Some phishing simulation tools can be set up in as little as 10 minutes, while others may take longer to initiate but provide more tailored tests. The ideal phishing simulation platform can perform multiple attack types, tailor messages to company-specific considerations and include in-depth analytics.

4. Deploy the test
After choosing relevant software, businesses are ready to simulate a phishing attempt. IT teams shouldn’t warn employees of the test ahead of time. That way, users will respond naturally, offering a more accurate picture of what would happen in a real attack.
 
Most phishing simulations should target as many users as possible to provide more comprehensive results. However, some businesses may want to simulate spear-phishing campaigns, which account for just 0.1% of email-based attacks but cause 66% of all breaches. These simulations would have to focus on a smaller target group to be realistic.

5. Respond to the results
Finally, businesses must recognize that simulation results are merely information. They must act on this data for it to be useful.
 
IT admins should host meetings to review the results and explain their impact. That includes highlighting where employees often went wrong and suggesting steps to prevent similar errors. Managers may consider changing their approach to security training to address these gaps. It’s also best to perform similar tests in the future and compare the results to past simulations.

Phishing simulations are a crucial safety measure

Phishing is both persistent and dangerous, so it deserves attention. Thorough employee training is the most critical step in stopping these attacks but requires simulation to gauge its efficacy.
 
Learning to perform an effective phishing simulation is the first step to equipping the workforce against these attacks. While these tests alone are not a complete security solution, they are essential to the process.