A phishing simulation campaign is a security awareness training exercise where simulated phishing emails are sent to employees in order to test their ability to recognize and respond to phishing attempts. The goal of a phishing simulation campaign is to educate employees on how to identify and report phishing emails, and to increase overall awareness of phishing threats within the organization.
The campaign typically includes a series of simulated phishing emails that are designed to mimic real-world attacks, and may be tailored to specific employees or departments. Once the campaign is complete, employees who fall for the simulation are provided with feedback and training to help them identify and avoid similar attacks in the future.
A phishing simulation campaign can also be used as a metric to measure the organization’s level of awareness, and to identify areas of improvement. It can be used as a benchmarking tool to assess the effectiveness of the security awareness training and to identify which group of employees are more susceptible to phishing emails.
Following are the 5 most successful email phishing simulation attack ideas.
- Executive impersonation: Create a fake email that appears to come from a high-level executive, such as the CEO or CFO, and ask employees to transfer money or provide sensitive information. This simulates a real-world attack known as “business email compromise” (BEC).
- Urgent deadline: Create a fake email that appears to be from a legitimate source, such as a bank or vendor, and request immediate action on a time-sensitive matter. This can simulate a phishing attack that preys on employees’ sense of urgency.
- Phony invoice: Create a fake invoice or receipt from a vendor and ask employees to click on a link or open an attachment. This can simulate a common phishing tactic known as “invoice fraud”.
- Job offer: Create a fake job offer email and ask employees to provide personal information, such as a social security number or bank account details. This can simulate a phishing attack that targets job seekers.
- False alert: Create a fake email that appears to be from a security or IT department and ask employees to click on a link or open an attachment, which can simulate a phishing attack that impersonates a trusted source.
Author : Hassaan Gul
