What is Simulated Phishing, and Why is it Important for MSPs?

According to records, the first time the term “phishing” was recorded was on January 2, 1996. Today email-based phishing is a persistent and costly cyber threat that is becoming more widespread and sophisticated.
Why do phishing attacks continue to exist? Because they work very well for cybercriminals as a threat vector. Phishing is a threat vector that targets trust with misdirection. This social engineering attack is used to steal user data, including login credentials and credit card numbers. Phishing occurs when an attacker, masquerading as a trusted entity, dupes a victim into opening a seemingly safe malicious email, instant message, or text message. Phishing attacks can cost companies their reputation and worth.

Phishing simulations help protect your business against social-engineering threats by training your employees to identify and report them. MSPs responsible for their clients’ IT and cybersecurity can find immense value in simulated phishing. Phishing emails are also used to distribute malware and spyware through infected links or attachments that can steal information and perform malicious tasks.

Here’s everything you need to know.

What is Simulated Phishing?

Simulated phishing is a cybersecurity awareness training technique wherein fake phishing attacks are carried out in a controlled environment. The intent of this exercise is to educate employees on recognizing and avoiding actual phishing attacks.

Why do Organizations, and More Importantly, MSPs, Need Simulated Phishing?

In the first quarter of last year, the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) observed a total of 1,025,968 phishing attacks. It had been the first time the quarterly figure exceeded one million, and that too by a margin close to a whopping 26,000 attacks.

A more alarming statistic is that about 40% of all breaches in 2021 entailed phishing– a figure that has only grown since. Also, 94% of all malware is delivered by e-mail, the most prominent phishing attack vector.

Evidently, phishing continues to tail the evolving sophistication of the cyber world. And the only way fighting ‘the fire’ appears to work is ‘with fire’ in controlled environments. One has to jump into the waters to learn to swim.

And this is where simulated phishing can help by exposing users to real-world phishing attacks when they least expect it, just like actual phishing attacks.

 

What Makes Organizations Ever Vulnerable to Phishing Attacks?

The answer to that is the human element–the weakest link in the IT and cybersecurity chain.

Networks can be programmed to be more resilient, and IT infrastructures can be thoroughly scanned and scrutinized for the smallest of cybersecurity risks which can then be alleviated, addressed, or “dealt with” technically. However, it takes a lot more to rectify the human mind.

Sitting at the intersection of sham, scam, and cyber vulnerability, phishing attacks are intelligently designed to manipulate the human mind. The phishing payload comes in all unsuspecting forms and formats, ready to infect networks with malware or ransomware,  steal sensitive information, and wreak havoc across organizations.

 

The Dilemma of MSPs in the Wake of Ever-increasing Cyber Risk

Sitting at the intersection of businesses and the IT and cybersecurity solutions they leverage, managed service providers (MSP) are usually held responsible for their clients’ IT security, even in the instance of a phishing attack that may have transpired from nothing but utter carelessness or overlook from the clients' employee(s).

As such, MSPS must prioritize bundling cybersecurity awareness training with the IT and cybersecurity services they deliver.

However, that’s easier said than done.

While cybersecurity awareness training is among the best measures organizations can adopt to safeguard themselves from phishing attacks, the traditional approach to phishing and cybersecurity awareness falls flat at many levels.

• Traditional cybersecurity awareness training can turn out to be dry and boring, leading to low levels of engagement, which is crucial to employees retaining information
• The training content may not be relevant to the needs of a specific organization or group of employees. It may also not consider the levels of awareness/knowledge different employees may have
• Traditional training methods also lack proper ways to measure employee engagement/knowledge retention

While all these shortcomings translate to big advantages for fraudsters and blackhats, the need for the hour is a practical, engaging approach to phishing training. It should be easy to implement,  relevant to the employees’ line of work, and emulates updated real-world scenarios.

To this end, phishing simulation solutions can be conveniently leveraged over the cloud. They are a worthy addition to cybersecurity awareness training programs.

 

Enter SafeTitan!

By reinforcing cybersecurity awareness and best practices among employees in a manner that doesn’t seem forced or obstructive to work, Titan HQ’s SafeTitan security awareness training product is purpose-built to deliver comprehensive and practical cybersecurity awareness training holistically.

Taking phishing simulation and security awareness training hand-in-hand, SafeTitan differentiates itself with:

• The capability to customize security awareness training  based on the specific behavior of each employee
• Gamified training content and simulation entailing short and efficient testing that takes up no more than 10 minutes off a user’s time
• Enterprise-level reporting that enables companies to measure ROI and attain a bird’s eye view of the progress of security awareness training
• Simple setup and migration
• Direct e-mail injection, wherein phishing simulation emails are delivered directly into the user’s inbox, saving time and resources for configuring ‘allowed lists’ and firewalls

The solution integrates seamlessly with G-suite as well as Microsoft products, including Outlook, 365, Teams, Azure AD, and ADFS.

SafeTitan guarantees protection from advanced phishing and ransomware attacks, spoofing, CEO impersonations, business email compromise, and the like.

 

The SafeTitan Advantage For MSPs

SafeTitan offers MSPs a fully re-brandable enterprise-grade security awareness training and phishing simulation platform that:

• Has a central console-like MSP dashboard with live analytics
• Packs phishing simulation tools, training content entailing over 1.8k update phishing templates, 80+ videos, training sessions & webinars that are updated regularly
• Generates smishing and phishing reports in a matter of minutes
• Comes with a mass campaign and training features that remove the hassles around imparting training client-by-client
• Features SSO, scheduled reporting capabilities, and dynamic user management
• Can automatically re-enroll ‘risky clickers’

As an MSP, you are entrusted by your clients to streamline and secure their IT and business. Strengthening the ‘weakest link’ in your service delivery chain is more than imperative.

SafeTitan enables behavior-driven security awareness training enhanced by phishing simulation and, in the process, helps companies create a more robust line of defense against phishing attacks.

 

Book a Free Product Demo

Book a free product demo to learn how SafeTitan security awareness training can protect your clients from emerging cybersecurity threats. Witness the magic of our UI and customer support structure. Make the most of our competitive pricing model,  and see how you can reinvent yourself as a cyber awareness-first MSP to your clients. 

Let SafeTitan’s simulated phishing and security training awareness solution be the multi-pronged arsenal against the high success rate, low cost, global reach, and evolving tactics of phishing attacks.

Unlock scalable, engaging, measurable, customizable, and cost-effective security awareness training and phishing simulation capabilities with SafeTitan.