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Phishing is the most common type of cyber-attack, with an estimated 3.4 billion phishing emails sent every day. Based on that, you’re guaranteed to come across a phishing email almost every day of your life and so you need to be prepared to identify and avoid these threats.
One way to manage this, is through using phishing simulations. These deliver a fake phishing email to your inbox, with the idea being that by receiving an email like this, the recipient can be trained to notice things trying to catch them out – hence making them more prepared when a real phishing email lands in their inbox. It’s like learning to ride a bike with stabilisers on, before you graduate to two wheels.
But there’s the age-old question: are phishing simulations actually beneficial to my organisation?
In short, yes.
The benefits
Phishing simulations are a valuable tool for organisations to assess and improve their security awareness and resilience. They can be used to achieve a number of things, ultimately creating that first line of defence for your organisation, within your people. In fact, phishing simulations can:
Raise awareness: Phishing simulations can help raise awareness among employees about the threat of phishing attacks and the importance of being vigilant when receiving suspicious emails or messages. By experiencing simulated phishing attacks, your employees will learn how to recognise phishing emails and avoid falling for them. They will also become familiar with the big brands and common designs of attack, gearing them up for the ultimate spot-the-difference when a real phishing email targets them.
Test employee responses: Phishing simulations can also provide insight into how different people respond to different types of phishing attacks, which can help your organisation identify vulnerabilities and areas for improvement. This information can then be used to develop targeted training programmes to improve employee awareness and response, specifically focusing on a certain department that is particularly susceptible to emails or even focusing on looking at email headlines, or plain text emails – whichever area your users seemed to struggle with the most.
Improve your security: By identifying weaknesses in security systems, your organisation can take steps to improve your security measures and reduce the risk of successful phishing attacks. This may involve implementing new security protocols, providing additional cyber security awareness training for employees, or investing in new security technologies.
Ensure you remain compliant: Many industries and regulations require organisations to conduct regular security awareness training for their employees, and phishing simulations can be an effective way to meet these requirements.
Save you money: Conducting phishing simulations is a cost-effective way to assess and improve security awareness compared to the potential cost of a real-life phishing attack, which can result in financial losses, reputational damage, and legal consequences. It’s just like paying for your car insurance, it’s a lot easier to put away a little every month and know you’re protected if the worst happens, then be forced to pay out for all your damages at the time of the incident.
In summary
Overall, phishing simulations are a valuable tool for organisations to improve their security awareness and resilience against phishing attacks, and to reduce the risk of costly security breaches. You will train the people in your organisation to be that first line of defence – giving them skills they can use both at work and in their personal lives – and you will protect your organisation from any future attacks.
If you want to find out more about phishing simulations, or cyber security awareness training to run alongside, Boxphish has solutions for both. Get in touch with us to find out more!