Why live phishing tests suck – Reason #2: Impossibly difficult tests
Leaving only hard clues causes frustration and rebellion.
This hurts the relationship between IT Security and employees.
It’s not about trying to prove that you can create a message that will trick everyone.
People will lose confidence in their ability to spot threats and will “give up” trying to analyze, avoid and report suspicious messages.
Making messages very difficult will also skew both “click rates” and “reporting rates”.
Give employees a chance to participate and to build confidence in their own skills.
Photo by Elisa Ventur on Unsplash
For just $325 USD, you can run a 6 week, automated program for gamified phishing awareness training and challenges. (Limited time offer. Normally valued at $999 USD)
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Scott Wright is CEO of Click Armor, the gamified simulation platform that helps businesses avoid breaches by engaging employees to improve their proficiency in making decisions for cyber security risk and corporate compliance. He has over 20 years of cyber security coaching experience and was creator of the Honey Stick Project for Smartphones as a demonstration in measuring human vulnerabilities.
ILeaving only hard clues causes frustration and rebellion.
This hurts the relationship between IT Security and employees.
It’s not about trying to prove that you can create a message that will trick everyone.
People will lose confidence in their ability to spot threats and will “give up” trying to analyze, avoid and report suspicious messages.
For just $325 USD, you can run a 6 week, automated program for gamified phishing awareness training and challenges. (Limited time offer. Normally valued at $999 USD)
Use Promo Code: 6WEEKS
Awareness training can address these kinds of vulnerabilities in a more inclusive and less “risky” way (from a program point of view).
Scott Wright is CEO of Click Armor, the gamified simulation platform that helps businesses avoid breaches by engaging employees to improve their proficiency in making decisions for cyber security risk and corporate compliance. He has over 20 years of cyber security coaching experience and was creator of the Honey Stick Project for Smartphones as a demonstration in measuring human vulnerabilities.
Why live phishing tests suck: Lack of clear guidance
Employees must be given clear, consistent guidance on what to look for, and how to handle suspicious messages.
This may seem obvious, but most organizations are too vague in their guidance to employees, and rarely try to reinforce it.
Unless employees are in externally facing roles, where they receive many external inquiries, they are not often thinking about this.
You need to be constantly reminding employees about what they should look for in sender addresses, link URLs or body content.
Without this guidance, you should expect random fluctuations in their ability to avoid suspicious messages in phishing tests.
Testing people on knowledge they have rarely seen is unfair and unproductive.
You should be using an awareness program that provides ongoing, practical tips and allows them to practice using them to spot threats in a safe environment.
For just $325 USD, you can run a 6 week, automated program for gamified phishing awareness training and challenges. (Limited time offer. Normally valued at $999 USD)
Use Promo Code: 6WEEKS
Scott Wright is CEO of Click Armor, the gamified simulation platform that helps businesses avoid breaches by engaging employees to improve their proficiency in making decisions for cyber security risk and corporate compliance. He has over 20 years of cyber security coaching experience and was creator of the Honey Stick Project for Smartphones as a demonstration in measuring human vulnerabilities.