That Mandatory Cybersecurity Training You Take Every Year? It Won't Help You Avoid Phishing Scams

The team also examined the efficacy of embedded phishing training – the practice of sharing anti-phishing information after a user engages with a phishing email sent by their organization as a test. Whether phishing training is effective is an important question. After sending 10 different types of phishing emails over the course of eight months, the researchers found that embedded phishing training only reduced the likelihood of clicking on a phishing link by 2%. But 30.8% clicked on a link that purported to be an update to UC San Diego Health’s vacation policy. Khang Tong, Euyhyun Lee and Lin Liu, Biostatistics, Epidemiology and Research Design, UC San Diego HealthChristopher A. Longhurst and Christian Dameff, Jacobs Center for Health Innovation and UC San Diego Health