Despite advances in cybersecurity technology, phishing continues to be a leading cause of security incidents. Modern attacks increasingly leverage AI-generated content, trusted brands, and social engineering techniques to deceive employees into sharing sensitive information or granting access to critical systems.
That's why phishing simulations are an essential component of any security awareness program. They reveal where employees are vulnerable, provide opportunities for targeted training, and help organizations build lasting resilience against real-world threats.
In this blog, we cover how to design and run successful phishing simulation campaigns that improve employee awareness, reduce risk, and strengthen your organization's overall security posture.
What is a Phishing Simulation and How Does it Work?
In simple terms, a phishing simulation is a test where you send a group of users emails to try and trick them into clicking on a fake link or attachment. If an employee clicks on a link or attachment or enters their details into a fake web form, they’d have infected your network with malware in an actual attack. When deciding to run a phishing simulation, you should target a group of users and only inform a few other non-tested individuals in the organization. Your first test should compare your user’s security awareness against other organizations.
2 Steps to Building an Effective Phishing Simulation Program
Step 1: Define your testing objective
Before launching a simulation, determine what type of phishing behavior you want to assess. Your objective should align with the threats employees are most likely to encounter and help identify specific areas for improvement.
Common phishing simulation objectives include:
- Malicious links: Test whether employees can recognize and avoid fraudulent links that lead to credential theft, malware downloads, or fake login pages.
- Credential harvesting forms: Simulate spoofed websites or web forms to measure how likely users are to enter sensitive information when prompted.
- Malicious attachments: Assess how employees respond to unexpected files that appear legitimate but could be used to distribute malware or ransomware.
To maximize realism and training value, simulations should closely mirror the techniques attackers use today. Many organizations use phishing simulation platforms that provide prebuilt templates based on current threats, allowing security teams to deploy realistic campaigns quickly and consistently.
Step 2: Choose a relevant scenario
Once you've established your objective, select a scenario that will resonate with your audience. The most effective phishing simulations reflect the emails, brands, and requests employees routinely encounter in their roles.
Common approaches include:
- Impersonating internal departments: Simulate messages from HR, IT, finance, or leadership to test how employees respond to seemingly trusted internal communications.
- Spoofing trusted brands and services: Replicate notifications from well-known vendors, shipping companies, banks, cloud providers, or collaboration platforms that employees use every day.
- Using prebuilt or customized scenarios: Leverage out-of-the-box campaign templates based on real attack techniques or tailor scenarios to match your organization's unique risk profile.
When selecting a scenario, consider your employees' day-to-day responsibilities, the tools they use, and the types of communications they trust. The closer a simulation is to a realistic threat, the more effective it will be at measuring awareness and reinforcing secure behavior.
What You Should Do After a Phishing Simulation
Running a phishing simulation is only the first step. The real value comes from analyzing the results and using them to improve security awareness across your organization.
Once the campaign is complete, review how employees interacted with the simulation. Key metrics may include who clicked malicious links, opened attachments, submitted information through fake forms, or reported the phishing attempt. These insights can help you identify vulnerable users, departments, and behaviors that require additional training.
Keep in mind that improving phishing resilience takes time. Most organizations see stronger results after conducting multiple simulations and reinforcing lessons with ongoing security awareness training. Rather than focusing on a single campaign, track progress over time to measure how employee awareness and response rates improve.
Additional indicators of program effectiveness include:
- Training completion rates among users who interacted with the simulation
- The number of employees who successfully reported the phishing email
- Trends in repeat offenders or repeat clickers
- Performance by department, role, or location
- Overall improvements in phishing susceptibility over time
The data collected from phishing simulations should be used to guide future training efforts. By identifying common knowledge gaps and risky behaviors, security teams can deliver targeted education on topics such as:
- Email security
- Social engineering
- Phishing attacks
- Malware and malicious software
- Identity theft
- Safe internet usage
- Ransomware
- Business email compromise (BEC)
- Password and authentication security
When combined with ongoing awareness training, phishing simulations provide a powerful way to reduce risk, reinforce secure behaviors, and build a stronger human firewall across the organization.
How Often Should You Run Phishing Simulations?
The effectiveness of a phishing simulation program depends not only on the quality of the tests but also on how frequently they're conducted. While every organization's risk profile is different, regular simulations are essential for reinforcing cybersecurity awareness and helping employees recognize evolving threats.
As a general best practice, organizations should aim to run 6-10 phishing simulations per user each year. Spacing campaigns roughly every 40-60 days provides enough frequency to keep phishing risks top of mind without overwhelming employees or creating training fatigue.
It's also important to vary the difficulty, themes, and attack techniques used throughout the year. Rotating scenarios based on current phishing trends helps employees build lasting skills rather than simply learning to recognize a specific template.
Ultimately, the right cadence depends on your organization's goals, risk exposure, and employee maturity. By combining regular phishing simulations with ongoing security awareness training, organizations can continuously strengthen their human defenses and reduce the likelihood of successful phishing attacks.
Turn Phishing Simulations into Lasting Security Habits
Building an effective phishing simulation program isn't about catching employees making mistakes. It's about giving them the knowledge and confidence to recognize threats before they become security incidents. The most successful programs use realistic, relevant scenarios that reflect the phishing and social engineering tactics employees are likely to encounter every day.
With Fortra Security Awareness Training, organizations can combine phishing simulations, targeted training, and measurable reporting to continuously strengthen employee security awareness. By regularly testing users and addressing knowledge gaps, you can build a more security-conscious workforce, reduce phishing risk, and create a stronger human layer of defense against cyber threats.
