PLAYBOOK

How to Run Your First Phishing Simulation

A practical, step-by-step guide to launching a phishing test for employees — safely, ethically, and in a way leadership will actually value.

You have been asked to “set up phishing testing for the team,” and you are not sure where to start. This playbook walks through a first phishing simulation end to end. Done well, a phishing test for employees is not a gotcha — it is a safe, measurable way to find and close your biggest risk. Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report found the median time to fall for a phishing email is under 60 seconds, so the goal is simple: build reflexes before a real attacker tests them.

Step 1 — Get authorization and set a goal

Before you send anything, get written sign-off from leadership and, where relevant, HR. A simulated phishing campaign touches your colleagues, so authorization matters both ethically and legally. Then pick one clear goal for this first run — usually a simple baseline: what share of employees click, submit, or report a realistic lure today?

Step 2 — Build your target list

Start with a defined group rather than the whole company. Import employees from a CSV or sync your directory. A smaller first cohort keeps the exercise manageable and gives you a clean baseline to measure future improvement against.

Step 3 — Choose a realistic scenario

Effective employee phishing training uses lures that resemble what your people really receive — a payroll confirmation, a shared-document notice, an IT password reset. Match the difficulty to your baseline: start moderate, not impossible. Modern tools make this easy; with Sinon you describe the scenario in plain English and AI generates the email, landing page, and teaching page for you.

Step 4 — Send, then track every interaction

Launch the campaign and watch the funnel in real time: sent, delivered, opened, clicked, submitted, and reported. A good phishing simulator gives each message a unique tracker so you get a per-recipient ledger rather than vague totals. Critically, no real credentials should ever be captured — a safe platform records that someone would have submitted, without storing what they typed.

Step 5 — Turn clicks into teaching moments

This is where the value is. Anyone who falls for the test should be redirected immediately to a short, supportive teaching page — not a reprimand. The tone of your anti-phishing training determines whether people learn or hide their mistakes. Frame it as training, celebrate employees who report the email, and never single people out publicly.

Step 6 — Report, then repeat

Summarize the results in a short report: your baseline click rate, gaps by department, and one or two clear next actions. Share the trend with leadership — not individual names. Then schedule the next round. The entire point of phishing awareness training is repetition: click rates fall meaningfully only when simulations run regularly, so plan for a recurring cadence, such as monthly.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Punishing employees. It destroys trust and drives under-reporting.

• Running once. A single test is a snapshot; behavior change needs a program.

• Starting too hard. An impossible lure demoralizes people and skews your baseline.

• Storing credentials. Never capture real passwords; use a tool built for safety.

Make the first one easy

A first phishing simulation should take minutes, not weeks. Sinon handles the whole workflow — import your list, let AI build the campaign, track every interaction, and export a board-ready report — while keeping every simulation safe and fully authorized. It is a practical way to run professional security awareness training from day one.

Ready to run yours? Start free at sinonsecurity.com and launch your first AI-built simulation today.