Admin Managers' Guide: How to Create a Phishing Simulation

In This Guide:

• The Basic Technical Setup
• Step 1. Create a Phishing Simulation
• Step 2. Select Template
• Step 3. Select Recipients
• Step 4. Set a Schedule
• Step 5. Select Training Type
• Step 6. Complete Setup

The Basic Technical Setup

Have You Completed the Technical Setup?

1. Whitelisting First: Before launching any training sessions or phishing simulations, your IT team needs to whitelist our domains. This ensures our simulated phishing emails and system notifications land safely in your team's inboxes rather than getting blocked.
2. Phish Reporter: A well-rounded security awareness strategy relies on two key parts: Training Sessions (Assignments keeping learners up to date on threats and how to avoid them) and Testing (simulated phishing). Clicks show you who fell for a test, but reports show you who is actively applying what they’ve learned. When a learner reports a suspicious email, that’s the real behaviour change you want to see,  and that’s where your return on investment lies!

Watch our Video Tutorial:

Getting Started

Step 1. Create a Phishing Simulation

1. Sign in to your Admin Dashboard.
2. Navigate to Phishing > Simulations.
3. Click the Create Simulation button

Step 2. Select Template

Choose how you want to test your team:

• Single Template: Send one specific email template to recipients.
• Random Templates: Send multiple templates. The system will randomly distribute them among users to prevent "office chatter" ("Hey, did you get that fake UPS email?").

Customise Phishing Simulation Templates

Go to Phishing > Templates.

• You can duplicate existing templates or create new templates from scratch to make simulations more realistic, localised, and relevant to your team.

Step 3. Select Recipients

Choose who will be enrolled in this simulation:

• Only me: Adds only yourself as a recipient, perfect for testing before a wider rollout.
• Everyone: Targets all active learners across your company.
• Specific Departments: Target specific groups (e.g., Finance, HR, or Sales).
• Specific Learners: Manually select individual learners.

Step 4. Set a Schedule

Select your delivery schedule:

• Now: Emails start sending immediately upon launching the simulation.
• Scheduled: Choose a specific future date and time for deployment.
• Random Delivery (Recommended): Set an Active Period (e.g., 1 month) and a Delivery Window (e.g., 28 days). The system will send emails out randomly during this time.

Once you've selected your schedule configuration:

• Set Launch Date
• Set Active Period
• Verify End Date

Step 5. Select Training Type

Remedial training is triggered when a learner "fails" a simulation by directly interacting with a simulated threat, whether they click a link, open an attachment, or submit sensitive information on a landing page.

At the Training step of creating your simulation, you can choose one of three delivery options:

1. Just-in-time training (Recommended): The moment a learner clicks or submits info, they are immediately redirected to a remedial training page. This provides quick feedback right when the mistake happens.
2. When the simulation ends: When a learner clicks or submits info, they are redirected to a standard 404 error page. Once the entire simulation period finishes, they receive an automated email with assigned training based on the action they took.
3. No training: When a learner clicks or submits info, they are redirected to a 404 error page, but no follow-up training or email is sent. (Always use this option when launching a Baseline Test).

Step 6. Complete Setup

Review your settings and finalise the details:

1. Enter your Simulation Name and Description.
2. Enter the Sender Name that shows in the inbox (e.g., "IT Desk" or "Urgent Notice").
3. Click Start Simulation to go live! 🚀

Tracking Simulation Metrics & Reports

You can track your simulation's performance in real-time via two routes in Simulation Overview, where you can view real-time Open, Clicked, Compromised, Trained, and Reported metrics.

1. Go to Dashboard > My Company > scroll down to Phishing Simulations, select your simulation >  open the Simulation Overview.
2. Go to Phishing > Simulations > select your simulation > click View Simulation to open the Simulation Overview.

Downloading Reports:

• Simulation Overview: Click the Reports button in the top right of the Simulation Overview page to download a CSV or PDF report.
• Report Dashboard: You can also access and download simulation reports anytime directly from the Reports section > Phishing Simulations.

If you get stuck at any point, click the chatbot icon on the bottom right to chat with our support team - we’re happy to help!