Overview#
Training exercise that sends mock phishing emails to measure awareness. Helps identify risky behaviors, tailor education, and track improvement over time.
Core objectives#
- Establish shared definitions of Phishing Simulation for security, engineering, and leadership teams.
- Connect Phishing Simulation activities to measurable risk reduction and resilience goals.
- Provide onboarding notes so new team members can quickly understand how Phishing Simulation works here.
Implementation notes#
- Identify the primary owner for Phishing Simulation, the data sources involved, and the systems affected.
- Document the minimum viable process, tooling, and runbooks that keep Phishing Simulation healthy.
- Map Phishing Simulation practices to standards such as ISO/IEC 27001, NIST CSF, or CIS Controls.
Operational signals#
- Leading indicators: early warnings that Phishing Simulation might degrade (e.g., backlog growth, noisy alerts, or missed SLAs).
- Lagging indicators: realized impact that shows Phishing Simulation failed or needs investment (e.g., incidents, audit findings).
- Feedback loops: retrospectives and metrics reviews that tune Phishing Simulation continuously.
Related practices#
- Align Phishing Simulation with defense-in-depth planning, threat modeling, and disaster recovery tests.
- Communicate updates to stakeholders through concise briefs, dashboards, and internal FAQs.
- Pair Phishing Simulation improvements with tabletop exercises to validate expectations.