Security Awareness: Benchmarking Your Industry Phishing Risk Score

Phishing remains one of the most significant threats in cybersecurity. With 3 out of 5 companies falling victim to phishing attacks, understanding and comparing your phishing risk score to the industry standard is crucial. The phishing risk score measures how your users perform in phishing simulations, indicating how susceptible they are to these attacks. This is where security awareness becomes critical. Companies that actively monitor and improve their phishing risk score can reduce vulnerabilities and strengthen their overall security posture.

Why security awareness is vital for phishing defense

The industry phishing risk score is a key indicator of your company’s readiness to defend against phishing attacks. It evaluates users’ responses to phishing attempts and how well they report suspicious emails. A low score indicates strong security awareness and good phishing defenses. In contrast, a higher score signals that your users may be more prone to falling for phishing scams, requiring immediate action to enhance security training.

Security awareness training helps employees recognize phishing attempts and builds a culture of vigilance. This training can be tailored based on risk metrics, ensuring that the employees who need it most receive focused, effective guidance. For example, users identified as high-risk in phishing simulations can be given additional phishing awareness training to mitigate potential vulnerabilities.

What is the industry phishing risk score?

The industry phishing risk score is a comparative metric that measures how vulnerable your company is to phishing attacks relative to others within your industry. It evaluates the responses of employees during phishing simulations, such as whether they clicked on malicious links or reported suspicious emails, and compares these results against industry-wide data.

The phishing risk score is calculated based on several factors:

1. User susceptibility: How many employees interact with simulated phishing emails by clicking on links, opening attachments, or responding to fraudulent requests.
2. Reporting rate: The percentage of employees who detect and report phishing attempts.
3. Simulation results: How well employees perform across multiple simulations, and whether their behavior improves over time.

By using this score, companies can determine if they are more or less vulnerable to phishing attacks than other organizations in the same sector. A score higher than the industry average indicates that your organization is more at risk, which may necessitate improvements in security awareness training. Conversely, a score lower than the average shows that your defenses are stronger, and employees are more capable of recognizing phishing attempts.

• Understanding your company's phishing risk score helps you:
• Benchmark your security performance.
• Identify areas of weakness.

Prioritize which employees or departments need further training or intervention.

This score also allows for the monitoring of progress over time, showing how effective security awareness programs are in reducing phishing risks.

How to interpret your industry phishing risk score for better security awareness

In a typical phishing risk score graphic, the blue dashed line represents the industry average phishing risk score, while the orange line shows your company’s score. If your company's line is above the industry average, this is a red flag, indicating your users are at greater risk. Conversely, a score below the industry average shows that your security awareness program is working effectively.

To further drill down into individual performance, the red bars show the number of users targeted in phishing simulations, how many reported the phishing attempt, and individual user risk scores. These insights allow you to pinpoint employees who are more likely to fall victim to phishing and provide targeted training.

Learn more about enhancing user vigilance against phishing and how security awareness can help lower your phishing risk score.

Boosting security awareness to lower your phishing risk score

If your company’s phishing risk score is higher than the industry average, it’s time to take action. Increasing security awareness among employees is the most effective way to mitigate this risk. Here are key strategies to boost awareness:

1. Run regular phishing simulations: Simulations help employees practice identifying phishing emails. A well-designed phishing simulation not only tests awareness but reinforces good habits by providing immediate feedback on user actions.
2. Offer focused security training: Users who score high on the phishing risk chart should receive additional, targeted security awareness training. This can include scenarios like the latest vishing and quishing attacks, which are becoming more prevalent in 2024.
3. Track and reward phishing reports: Encourage a culture of reporting phishing attempts, and recognize employees who consistently identify and report suspicious emails. This approach boosts security awareness across the company.

Explore how tailored training strategies can improve your phishing defenses in our article on top vishing awareness training.

Security awareness at the user level: Reducing individual risk

A closer look at the horizontal bar chart in your phishing risk score reveals individual users who are at the highest risk. Red bars indicate critical-risk employees—those who are particularly susceptible to phishing attacks. These users require immediate intervention. Enhancing security awareness through targeted training for these employees is essential to reducing their risk and strengthening your company’s overall security posture.

Providing specialized phishing awareness training to these high-risk individuals will drastically improve your company's resilience to cyber threats. By focusing on the areas of highest need, you maximize the return on investment in your security training programs.

Learn more about human error in cybersecurity and how to mitigate risks in our post on the role of human error in cyber breaches.

The long-term benefits of security awareness for phishing protection

Tracking and improving your phishing risk score over time is one of the most effective ways to enhance your company’s security awareness and resilience to phishing attacks. It provides real-time insights into how well your phishing simulations are working and where more training may be needed.

The Keepnet phishing simulator allows you to continuously assess and improve your users' phishing awareness. It’s critical to focus on continuous training rather than one-off exercises. With repeated security awareness training, employees become more adept at recognizing phishing attempts, lowering your risk score, and improving overall cyber resilience.

Looking for ways to make training more engaging? Consider interactive methods such as gamified training or quizzes to boost user engagement, covered in our article on how to increase employee interest in security awareness training.

Conclusion: Enhancing security awareness through phishing risk scores

Your phishing risk score is a important barometer of your organization's security health. By benchmarking it against the industry average, you gain insights into how well your employees recognize phishing attacks and report them. If your risk score is higher than average, boosting security awareness through targeted training is critical. With regular phishing simulations, you can track improvements over time and ensure that your workforce remains vigilant.

Train your team to reduce phishing risk by up to 92%. Use targeted training to build strong phishing defenses and leverage the Keepnet phishing simulator to track your company's performance. Lower your risk and build a resilient security culture.

Further Reading:

• Using phishing dwell time distribution charts
• What is phishing dwell time and quickest response time
• Phishing risk score trends across industries
• Enhancing security awareness training with completion charts
• Top 30 Phishing Statistics and Trends You Must Know in 2024
• Keepnet phishing simulator: Fighting against phishing attacks
• 30 phishing email examples to avoid
• Free phishing awareness training
• How to protect your business against ransomware
• Cyber Security Awareness Training For Employees

Also, watch our YouTube video below and see how Keepnet’s human risk management platform can help you get executive reports like high-risk Users in security awareness training and use them for improvement.