Guide on Executing a Phishing Exercise in Academic Institutions
Phishing, a leading cause of data breaches worldwide, accounted for 90% of all such incidents in 2021. To combat this growing threat, higher education institutions are turning to phishing simulations as a crucial component of their cybersecurity strategies. Here's how they can effectively integrate these simulations into their comprehensive security posture.
Planning and Goal Setting
The first step is to assess the current security awareness levels among staff and students, identifying knowledge gaps and risky behaviours. Clear, specific, measurable objectives should be defined for the simulation program, such as reducing click rates on phishing emails or increasing phishing reports. The simulation content should be customised to align with the institution's culture, internal language, and relevant current events, making the phishing scenarios realistic and relatable.
Designing Realistic and Personalised Simulation Scenarios
Realistic phishing emails that mimic real threats using relevant organisational context are key. AI tools can be leveraged to create advanced and adaptive phishing simulations, such as deepfake CEO scams and HR emails, to better mirror evolving attacks. High-risk groups should be identified and targeted for additional, adaptive training based on their simulation results.
Executing the Simulation
Leadership buy-in is crucial, and simulations should be framed as learning opportunities, not punitive measures. Sophisticated simulation platforms that support scaling, multiple learning styles, and provide real-time tracking of participation and results should be used.
Immediate Feedback and Training
After each simulated phishing attempt, immediate, constructive feedback highlighting the red flags missed should be provided. Concise, interactive educational content or e-learning modules should be delivered on the spot to reinforce learning and improve user vigilance. Gamification and incentives can motivate and engage participants.
Metrics, Reporting, and Continuous Improvement
Key metrics such as click rates, phishing report rates, and time taken to report suspicious emails should be tracked. Dashboards should be established to visualise trends and identify at-risk populations. Data-driven insights should be used to tailor ongoing training, refine simulation difficulty, and continuously update training contents to match emerging threats.
Integration into Overall Cybersecurity Strategy
Phishing simulations should be combined with broader cybersecurity awareness training initiatives that include theoretical, practical, and behavioural components. They should also align with other defence layers, such as technical controls like email filtering and authentication protocols (e.g., DMARC, DKIM) to reduce attack surface. Maintaining executive support and communicating success metrics institution-wide is essential to build a culture of cybersecurity vigilance.
For higher education institutions, it is vital that the phishing simulation be customised to reflect the diverse user base and decentralised nature of campuses. Continuous adaptation, leadership endorsement, and data-driven training refinement are critical for long-term effectiveness.
Results are shared in a constructive, non-punitive way, and targeted training and communication strategies are developed based on the analysis results. Institutions should collaborate across departments to ensure that cybersecurity education reaches every segment of the university community. Phishing simulations are most effective when embedded into a larger framework of cybersecurity education and digital risk management.
- To ensure an effective integration of phishing simulations into the comprehensive cybersecurity strategy of higher education institutions, it's important to align them with broader cybersecurity awareness training that consists of theoretical, practical, and behavioral components.
- For optimal results, phishing simulations should be used alongside technical controls such as DMARC and DKIM protocols to reduce the attack surface, in addition to email filtering.
- Higher education institutions must customize the phishing simulations to address their diverse user base and the decentralized nature of campuses to optimize their effectiveness.
- It's essential to continuously adapt the phishing simulations, obtain leadership support, and utilize data-driven insights to improve ongoing training, fine-tune the simulation difficulty, and keep training contents updated to account for emerging threats.
