Phishing Simulation
A controlled, authorized exercise that sends realistic but harmless fake phishing messages to employees to measure how they respond and to train safer behavior.
Definition
A phishing simulation is a controlled, organization-authorized exercise in which a security team sends realistic but harmless mock phishing messages to its own employees, then measures how recipients respond. Unlike a real attack, no data is stolen and no system is harmed: the simulated emails, SMS, voice calls, or QR codes lead to safe tracking pages and immediate teaching moments rather than to credential theft. The goal is to measure susceptibility, identify where human risk is concentrated, and turn each interaction into an opportunity to build safer behavior over time.
A simulation typically begins with a template that mimics a common lure, such as a fake password-reset notice, an invoice, or a shipping update. The security team defines the target audience, sending schedule, and difficulty, then launches the campaign. The platform tracks measurable events for each recipient: whether the message was opened, whether a link was clicked, whether credentials were entered on a fake landing page, and whether the message was reported as suspicious. Reporting is the signal that matters most, because it reflects the behavior you actually want to encourage.
The most effective programs are continuous rather than one-off. They vary the lure type and difficulty, cover email, vishing, smishing, and QR-based attacks, and adjust to each team's risk profile. When someone clicks a simulated link, the best practice is just-in-time training: a short, encouraging lesson delivered at the teachable moment, never a punitive shaming exercise. Over successive campaigns, click rates, report rates, and time-to-report become trend lines that show whether behavior is genuinely improving.
Phishing simulations matter because people, not just technology, are the most targeted attack surface. Real-world social engineering, business email compromise, and credential harvesting all rely on a person making one wrong decision under pressure. Simulations give organizations a safe, measurable way to find those weak points before an attacker does, to satisfy regulatory and audit expectations for security awareness, and to prove that their human risk is trending downward with evidence rather than assumption.
At a glance
- Type
- Awareness control
- Also known as
- Simulated phishing
How it works
- 1
Template selection: the security team picks a lure that mimics a common attack, such as a fake password-reset notice or invoice.
- 2
Campaign setup: target audience, sending schedule, and difficulty are defined before launch.
- 3
Delivery and tracking: the platform records whether each recipient opened the message, clicked a link, entered credentials, or reported it.
- 4
Teachable moment: anyone who clicks or submits data receives immediate, encouraging feedback rather than punishment.
- 5
Trend analysis: click rates, report rates, and time-to-report are tracked across campaigns to show whether behavior is improving.
Key points
- No real data is stolen and no system is harmed; simulated lures lead to safe tracking pages
- Reporting is the signal that matters most, since it reflects the behavior organizations actually want
- Continuous programs that vary lure type and difficulty outperform one-off tests
- Simulations should cover multiple channels, including email, vishing, smishing, and QR codes
- Results give security leaders measurable evidence of human risk, rather than assumptions
Best practices
- Run simulations continuously rather than as a single annual event
- Vary lure difficulty and attack type to reflect real-world tactics
- Pair every click with a short, non-punitive just-in-time lesson
- Track click rate, report rate, and time-to-report as trend lines, not one-off scores
- Segment results by department and role to target training where it is needed most
Real-world example
A security team at an insurance company launches a simulated invoice-payment email to the finance department. Three staff click the link, each is immediately shown a short lesson on verifying payment requests through a second channel, and the department's click rate is tracked against the next campaign to confirm the lesson is sticking.
How Claro helps
Claro runs phishing simulations across email, voice (vishing), WhatsApp, and QR channels from a single platform, with bilingual English and Bahasa Indonesia content built for Indonesian regulated industries. Every simulated interaction feeds a per-user risk score and can trigger just-in-time micro-training at the moment someone clicks, so the program drives real behavior change rather than one-off awareness. Built-in reporting maps results to OJK, UU PDP, BSSN, and ISO 27001 expectations, giving security teams defensible evidence that human risk is measurably decreasing over time.
Frequently asked questions
Is a phishing simulation the same as a real phishing attack?
No. A simulation is authorized by the organization and never steals data or harms a system. It leads to a safe tracking page and a teaching moment instead of credential theft.
What should happen when an employee clicks a simulated phishing link?
The best practice is an immediate, short, non-punitive just-in-time lesson explaining what red flags were missed, rather than a shaming message or disciplinary action.
How often should phishing simulations run?
Continuously, with varied lure types and difficulty, rather than as a single annual test. Regular campaigns build a trend line that shows whether behavior is genuinely improving.
What metric matters most from a simulation program?
Reporting rate is often the most valuable signal, since it reflects the behavior organizations most want to encourage, alongside a declining click rate over time.
What is phishing simulation called in Bahasa Indonesia?
Simulasi phishing, and simulasi email phishing where the channel needs to be specific. Indonesian practitioners keep the word phishing rather than translating it, so simulasi phishing is the term to use in internal policy and training material.
Related terms
Phishing
Phishing is a social engineering attack where criminals impersonate a trusted sender to trick people into revealing credentials, transferring money, or installing malware.
Social Engineering
The manipulation of people into revealing sensitive information or taking unsafe actions by exploiting trust, emotion, and human psychology rather than technical flaws.
Security Awareness Training
Security awareness training is structured education that teaches employees to recognize and respond to cyber threats such as phishing, social engineering, and unsafe data handling.
Human Risk Management
A security discipline that identifies, measures, and reduces the risk that people introduce through their everyday behavior.
Reduce your human risk
Claro measures and lowers the risk these terms describe, in English and Bahasa Indonesia.
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