Phishing Simulation: What It Is and Why Your Business Needs It

Phishing Simulation: What It Is and Why Your Business Needs It

There's knowing you should be able to spot a phishing email. And then there's actually spotting one under pressure, in the middle of a hectic Tuesday, when you have 50 unread emails and a deadline at 3pm.

Theory and practice are very different things. Phishing simulations bridge that gap.

What is a phishing simulation?

A phishing simulation is a controlled, fake phishing attack run by your organisation (or a third-party service) on your own staff. The purpose is to test who would click, who would report it, and who would fall for it — without any of the real-world consequences.

It's basically a fire drill, but for email scams.

How does it work?

1. Your IT team or a security provider sends a carefully crafted fake phishing email to your staff.
2. The email looks realistic — it might mimic your bank, your cloud provider, or even an internal email.
3. Staff who click the link or provide information are shown an immediate educational message explaining what happened and what to look for.
4. Managers receive a report showing who clicked, who reported it, and overall organisational susceptibility.
5. Results inform targeted follow-up training.

Why it works better than static training:

• Emotional impact: Getting "caught" creates a memorable experience. You remember it. You don't make the same mistake twice.
• Personalised results: You learn specifically which types of phishing your team is susceptible to, and can tailor training accordingly.
• Behavioural change: Repeated simulations over time measurably reduce click rates. One study showed phishing susceptibility dropping from 25% to under 5% after 12 months of regular simulations.
• Reporting culture: Simulations also measure how many people report the suspicious email — and encourage that behaviour.

What does the data show?

Organisations in the ANZ region that run regular phishing simulations achieve an average phishing-prone percentage of just 4.9% after one year of training. That's a massive improvement from an untrained baseline.

What to do with the results

Don't use simulation results to shame or punish people who clicked. The goal is education, not embarrassment. Focus on:

• Thanking people who reported the simulation
• Debriefing with everyone on what the red flags were
• Providing targeted training for repeat clickers

Getting started

You don't need a big security budget to start. Phishbate's free interactive platform is a great first step — it lets your team experience realistic phishing scenarios and immediately learn from them.

Try it at Phishbate — free, no sign-up required →