Simulate Attacks Safely.
Measure Human Risk.
Authorized security testing that measures real employee behavior: who clicks, who reports threats, and who needs targeted training. Not just vanity metrics.
What is a phishing simulation?
A phishing simulation is an authorized, controlled exercise where security teams send realistic fake phishing emails to their own employees. Nobody is harmed. No credentials are captured. The goal is to measure how employees respond, who clicks, who reports, who needs more practice, and feed that behavioural data into targeted awareness training. For the numbers behind why this matters, see our 2026 phishing statistics.
Mature security programmes treat phishing simulators as a continuous measurement layer rather than a one-off audit. An online phishing simulator runs the same scenarios real attackers use. An email phishing simulator captures click and report rates by industry over time. A phishing attack simulator gives you the numbers behind your security culture so you can defend the things that matter and stop guessing.
PhishSkill is a phishing simulation software platform built around that loop. Email-channel simulations cover the inbox attacks employees see most often. WhatsApp phishing awareness training extends the same model to the mobile channel attackers shift to when email gets blocked. And AI-powered template generation keeps the scenarios fresh, so you never run yesterday's phishing simulations against today's threats.
How It Works
Automated, continuous assessment in four steps.
Configure
Choose from 100+ pre-approved training templates or customize simulation scenarios for department-specific security awareness testing.
Automate
Schedule training campaigns to run automatically. Randomize delivery times to simulate realistic attack patterns and test employee vigilance independently.
Track
Monitor test interactions: who clicked, who reported suspicious emails, and who entered test data (never stored or transmitted externally).
Remediate
Automatically assign micro-training only to employees who fail the simulation.
Common phishing simulation scenarios
Templates that mirror the attacks employees actually face. Pick from the curated library, or generate context-aware variants with AI-powered template generation.
Credential harvesting
Fake Microsoft, Google, or single sign-on login pages designed to capture credentials. Tests whether employees verify the URL before entering passwords. See credential-harvesting success-rate benchmarks.
Executive impersonation
Spoofed CEO or CFO emails requesting urgent wire transfers, gift cards, or sensitive data. Targets finance, admin, and executive assistant teams. Read our CEO fraud & whaling prevention guide.
Package delivery lures
Fake DHL, FedEx, Aramex, or regional courier notifications with malicious tracking links. Especially common during retail peak seasons and festive periods.
Vendor invoice fraud
Bogus supplier invoices with payment-urgency pressure. Tests verification habits in accounts payable, procurement, and finance teams.
HR and payroll prompts
Fake benefits enrollment, salary reviews, or e-signature requests. Targets the entire employee base because everyone has an HR-shaped reflex.
IT service ticket pretexts
Impersonations of internal IT, helpdesk, or security teams asking for credential resets, MFA codes, or remote-access approvals.
Can you spot the phish?
Test your skills. Find the 3 red flags in this mock email simulation.
To fully experience this interactive simulation (including URL hovering and detailed analysis), we recommend viewing this page on a desktop device.
HR Support
Dear Employee,
We have detected an unusual login attempt on your account. Action is required immediately to prevent account suspension.
Please review the activity details and verify your identity.
Thank you,
IT Security Team
What We Measure
We focus on actionable behavior that directly impacts your risk posture.
Link Clicks
The first indicator of vulnerability. Who is curious?
Test Data Entry
Who entered credentials in the simulation? (Data is never stored or used for authentication)
Report Rate
The gold standard. Who actively identified and flagged the threat?
Training Completion
Did the remedial lesson actually get done?
What We Don't Measure
Email Open Rates
Modern email clients (Apple Mail, Gmail) pre-load images to protect privacy, causing false "opens". Security bots also scan emails, inflating numbers.
Safe by Design
Tenant Isolation
Your data is logically separated. Simulations run in a contained environment.
Safe Attachments
We never use malicious code. 'Malware' simulations are harmless file dummies.
Zero Inbox Access
We do not read your emails. We only track the specific simulation emails we send.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between a phishing simulator and phishing awareness training?
A phishing simulator runs the controlled exercise that measures behaviour. Phishing awareness training is the educational content that teaches employees what to look for. PhishSkill combines both so the simulation surfaces a weakness and the training immediately addresses it.
How do phishing simulations contribute to enterprise security?
Three ways. First, they replace assumed compliance ('we did annual training') with measured behaviour — our guide to reducing phishing click rate walks through the playbook. Second, they identify the people and departments most likely to fail a real attack — see click-rate benchmarks by department — so security spend is targeted. Third, the data feeds audit-ready evidence for SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA, and PCI DSS controls around security awareness training.
What channels can I run phishing simulations on?
PhishSkill currently runs simulations across email and WhatsApp. Email is the primary channel; WhatsApp covers the mobile messaging gap most simulators ignore. See WhatsApp phishing awareness training for the mobile-channel flow.
What are the pros and cons of running a phishing simulator?
Pros: behavioural data instead of self-reported awareness, audit evidence for compliance frameworks, targeted training that doesn't waste senior employees' time on basics. Cons: takes coordination with HR and legal in the first cycle, employees may feel tested rather than supported if you don't communicate the programme well, and click-rate metrics alone are misleading without paired report-rate measurement. A well-run programme handles all three.
How often should we run phishing simulations?
Most organisations run monthly. Regulated industries (finance, healthcare, legal) often run every two weeks. The frequency question gets a full treatment in our guide on how often you should run phishing simulations, and the underlying phishing simulation playbook walks through cadence in context.
What makes the best phishing simulation tools different from the basics?
Three things. Library variety so employees see fresh pretexts instead of the same five recycled templates. Channel coverage so training matches the attack surface (email plus WhatsApp). And behaviour-triggered remediation that assigns micro-lessons automatically to people who click, not the whole company.
Beyond email simulation
Email phishing is the foundation. PhishSkill also covers the channel attackers shift to when email gets blocked, and the AI generation that keeps your scenarios fresh.
WhatsApp Phishing Awareness
Train against the channel attackers use when your email gateway blocks them. Admin-controlled enrolment, unified reporting alongside email.
See the WhatsApp flowAI-Powered Phishing Awareness
Generate realistic, context-aware phishing simulations in seconds. Use PhishSkill's AI on Premium, or bring your own key on any plan.
See AI generationReady to see your real risk profile?
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