How to conduct phishing simulations in your company?

Of all the cyberattacks carried out in 2023, 70% were phishing attacks. Through manipulation and deception, cybercriminals impersonate companies or individuals to steal credentials and access keys from their victims.

That is why it is essential to train and raise awareness among employees of any company on how to prevent this type of cyberattack, since through phishing, cybercriminals can launch much more damaging cyberattacks.

In addition to educating and raising awareness about what these types of cyberattacks are and how they work, one of the best ways to train members of an organization to be able to detect phishing cyberattacks is through phishing simulations.

What is a phishing simulation and what is its purpose?

A phishing simulator allows the organization to replicate, in a controlled environment, a phishing attack against its own systems. This exercise enables the company to see how its employees react to such an attack.

It’s a perfect way for them to learn to distinguish the details that differentiate a malicious email from a non-malicious one, encouraging them to think twice before interacting with it. Some of these details include spelling mistakes, unknown senders, or multiple languages in a single message.

Phishing simulations not only serve to train the members of a corporation, but they also help to understand the real threat posed to the organization.

Once the results of the simulation have been analyzed, it is also important to implement active learning tools as well as anti-spam cybersecurity solutions to prevent these emails from reaching the user's inbox.

ESED Phishing simulator attack

At ESED, we offer a phishing simulation service. We send out malicious emails, carefully selected and configured, to members of an organization to assess their security level. We also provide 60 interactive modules to raise user awareness about specific threats: how to detect suspicious emails, how to collect credentials, password security, and compliance with organizational policies and regulations, among others.

Once the controlled attack is conducted, we provide the company with comprehensive analysis and reports on the results. Through the interactive dashboard, the results of the campaigns can be viewed, including trends of employees targeted, users who were deceived, and users who detected and reported the fraudulent email, among other metrics.

Our goal with phishing simulations is learning through experience. We believe that if you understand what you're up against, you'll be able to detect it.