Phish Tests for Phishing Awareness
Cyber threats such as phishing keep evolving and growing in prevalence. According to recent results, as many as one in five people click on phishing emails from billions of scam emails sent around the world.
Phishing emails attract the end user’s attention and prompt them to click a malicious link or download content, and the fraudulent call to action leads to a data breach.
Given that most phishing sites are only online for an average of 15 hours, it is difficult to detect and block them. The phishing threat landscape grows in complexity, and as such the inherent value of security awareness in organizations is as important as ever.
Standardized courses on cyber security may not guarantee that your staff is fully prepped to detect and avoid actual phishing-related threats. As a result, simulated phishing attacks and practical training are vital.
Keep in mind that it only takes a simple misstep from one person to act on a phishing email to lead to reputational and financial damages.
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The Scope of Phishing Awareness Training
End users in an organization need to understand the specific phishing threats they face in their day-to-day activities. The telltale signs of phishing scams should be at the fingertips of everyone in the organization.
For example, you can tell it is a phishing scam when there’s:
- Lack of personalization, such as ‘hello user”.
- Bad spelling and grammar
- Scare tactics to prompt action
- Unusual website address
From a distance, it may seem easy to identify phishing emails, but that’s not always the case, especially when handling many emails and tasks at a time. Awareness boils down to knowledge, skill, and behavior, which can be achieved through safe exposure – phish tests and training.
Phish tests or phishing attack simulations assess the level of security awareness and the extent of risk exposure. This helps determine ways to strengthen data protection in the long term. Cybersecurity experts use these tests to learn about the various weaknesses in systems to protect you better.
In a nutshell, phishing testing involves sending fake emails to employees to learn about phishing vulnerabilities to protect your business.
Doing the Phish Tests
Phishing attacks have evolved to a point where average users may not recognize them. Therefore, the organization must employ updated preventive measures to avoid the negative impact of data breaches.
Phish tests measure an employee’s skills and progress on phishing awareness. Can the users identify suspicious emails and apply the necessary security measures?
Here are some basics on phishing tests:
- The first step is to get the necessary buy-in or approval from the management.
- Phishing tests shouldn’t be too frequent that the employees expect them. The objective is to extract meaningful information that helps ensure a safe workplace – they shouldn’t be too infrequent. The plan should be to send tests to particular departments at a time, customized based on the functionality of a department.
- Imports stats during the phishing tests include the email open rates, click-through rates, information disclosure, and download rates. How many were nabbed by the fake emails, and what percentage reported the incident?
The phishing test data provides a clear picture of the effectiveness of initiatives to change behaviors and fine-tune the strategies.
The goal of every organization is to ensure a safe working environment with minimal risks from cyber threats. Phishing tests are vital tools that help determine the knowledge and skills of your employees regarding the phishing risks and help contribute to positive behavioral changes.
Our IT support solutions, including phishing awareness training, are specifically designed for your business needs. We work on securing your organization, and you can focus on productivity and efficiency. Colorado Computer Support is your partner for success. Contact us today.
