What Is a Phishing Simulation? A Plain-English Explainer for Business Owners

A phishing simulation is a controlled test. You send fake phishing emails to your own employees to see who clicks. Nobody gets hurt, because the "attack" comes from you, not a criminal. Employees who click see a short page explaining what they missed, and you can enroll them in training.

Think of it as a fire drill for email. You test whether your team can spot a fake before a real attacker tests them for you.

How does it work?

1. You pick a template. Each one is modeled on real phishing emails: fake password resets, invoice requests, delivery notifications, shared documents. Good templates are convincing.
2. You choose who receives it. Your whole team, one department, or specific employees.
3. The simulation goes out. It looks like a normal email. It usually has a link or button that records who clicks.
4. You see the results. A dashboard shows who opened the email, who clicked the link and who reported it as suspicious.
5. Clickers get trained. Employees who click see an educational page, and you can enroll them in a short training module.

Why do businesses run these?

Telling employees "don't click suspicious links" doesn't work. People need to practice spotting phishing in context: in their inbox, on a busy day, when the email looks like it could be real.

The numbers back this up. Verizon's 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report found that 68% of breaches involved a human element, such as someone making a mistake or falling for a scam.

Simulations give you a measurable baseline. Your first campaign shows how many people click. After a few months of regular simulations and training, you can see whether that number falls. You see the improvement in real data.

Do I need a security team to run this?

No. That's the point of a platform like PhishPlease. If you can send an email and read a dashboard, you can run phishing simulations. Templates, scheduling, training and reporting are all automated.

With PhishPlease you are running in 10 minutes. Most customers spend about 30 minutes a month on ongoing campaigns.

Won't employees be angry?

Some will, the first time. That's normal. It means the simulation was convincing enough to test real behavior. Frame it as training, not punishment. PhishPlease is built to teach, not embarrass.

After a few rounds, most employees appreciate it. They start catching simulations, and real phishing emails, more often. That's the goal.

What does it cost?

Enterprise platforms like KnowBe4 price per employee on yearly plans, and the price depends on the tier you pick. PhishPlease costs $89.99/month for up to 30 users, plus $1/month per additional user. No contracts, no minimums.

For a 50-person company, that's $109.99/month, billed month to month.