Phishing Assessment
Gain intelligence-driven and actionable insight into your organization’s resilience to phishing attacks with Rootshell Security’s Phishing Assessment.
Trusted by companies of all shapes and sizes
What is a phishing assessment?
A phishing assessment is a cybersecurity exercise where an organization sends realistic fake phishing emails to employees to evaluate their awareness and response. These simulations mirror real-world phishing tactics, helping employees improve their cybersecurity skills without exposing the organization to actual data breaches or financial losses.
Rootshell Security’s Phishing Assessment services simulate the entire lifecycle of a phishing attack, so you can test your organization’s defences at each stage. We use cutting-edge cyber threat intelligence to demonstrate how a threat actor would exploit public information about your organization to plan a convincing attack. We then simulate the attack itself by creating and sending mock phishing emails to agreed-upon targets
You will gain a clear understanding of your organization’s ability to defend against a phishing attack; our easy-to-understand reports and continuous guidance will support your next steps.
Why is a Phishing Assessment Important?
A Phishing Assessment is key to understanding your organisation’s risk from one of the most common cyber threats. 68% of data breaches in 2024 were attributed to human error, including social engineering scams. A phishing risk assessment helps find user vulnerabilities, test awareness, improve response, prevent breaches, and support ongoing training.
Expose Human Vulnerabilities
Identify which users or departments are most at risk from phishing attacks, helping to tailor training and reduce the chance of human error.
Improve Employee Awareness
Simulated attacks give staff practical experience in spotting phishing, encouraging a more security-conscious culture.
Prevent Costly Breaches
Phishing is a common entry point for data breaches. Assessments help catch weaknesses before they’re exploited.
Meet Compliance and Track Progress
Support regulatory compliance and measure improvements over time to guide future training and security efforts.
Protect your AI investments with a phishing assessment
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Centralise Your Phishing Test Results
The Rootshell Platform is a vendor-neutral vulnerability management solution designed to place you at the heart of your security operations. It allows you to consolidate any assessment results, speed up remediation workflows, and gain visibility into any growing threats.
Types of Phishing Assessments
Our Phishing Assessment services test how your organization would withstand each stage of a phishing attack, from reconnaissance to launch.
Intelligence-led phishing assessment
Attackers use publicly available data to write convincing phishing emails. Using OSINT techniques, we replicate this approach by gathering employee email addresses and creating context-specific phishing messages. This assessment can be delivered standalone or as part of our Red Team service (RTaaS), giving you a realistic view of how targeted an attack on your organisation could be.
Organization-wide phishing assessment
Your team is your first line of defence. This assessment sends carefully designed phishing simulations to a wider group of employees, helping you identify who’s at risk, measure organisational awareness, and tailor security training based on real results.
Spear phishing assessment
High-value individuals are prime targets for cybercriminals. Our spear phishing test mimics personalised attacks, such as fake invoices or travel-related emails, aimed at executives or key staff. This lets you assess whether your most targeted personnel can recognise and respond to a tailored phishing attempt.
SMiShing Assessment
A SMiShing (SMS phishing) assessment involves sending realistic, mock phishing text messages to your employees’ mobile devices. These messages are designed to mimic tactics used by real attackers. The goal is to evaluate how employees respond to text-based threats and identify gaps in awareness.
Specialist Phishing Assessment
Our Specialist Phishing Assessments simulate advanced, targeted attacks tailored to your organisation’s specific risks. These assessments focus on high-risk teams or roles like finance or senior leadership and use realistic tactics. The aim is to reveal hidden vulnerabilities and help strengthen defences where they’re needed most.
Recognized industry leader in Phishing Assessments
The Phishing Assessment Process
01
Scoping
Our experienced security consultants can help define your objectives and advise which of our Phishing Assessment services would be most suitable. Together, we agree the approach and targets of your phishing assessment, ensuring you have full transparency.
02
Intelligence Gathering
Using OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) techniques, we collect publicly available information that attackers could use to craft convincing phishing emails. This step helps us create highly relevant and realistic scenarios.
03
Phishing Simulation Execution
We send phishing emails to the agreed targets. These emails are designed to mimic real-world attack techniques, from mass phishing to targeted spear phishing.
04
Monitoring & Data Collection
We monitor how users interact with the phishing emails, whether they open them, click links, or submit credentials. No actual data is compromised during this step.
05
Analysis & Reporting
You’ll receive a detailed report outlining the results, including who interacted with the emails, what actions were taken, and which users may require additional training. We also provide recommendations to strengthen awareness and resilience.
Why Rootshell’s phishing assessment service?
We conduct powerful, intelligence-driven phishing assessments for some of the UK’s largest organizations. Here’s why Rootshell would be your trusted partner for phishing assessments.
Expert guidance
Our experienced consultants take the time to understand your organization’s unique needs and objectives. We can advise the best solution for your phishing assessments so you receive the most actionable and relevant insights possible
A smart approach
Many organizations offer phishing assessments, but not all have the expertise to offer an intelligence-driven assessment. Our vast experience in cyber threat intelligence, reconnaissance, and the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) of threat actors ensures you gain a deeper insight into exactly how an attack would be planned and launched
Continuous support
If a hacker fails to infiltrate your organization, they won’t give up; they will try again or attempt to use other means. Our consultants can advise the best solution for you to continually assess and improve your organization’s security posture, such as running regular phishing assessments or testing alternative hacking methods like SMiShing (SMS phishing).
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Frequently Asked Questions
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Why do I need a Phishing Assessment?
Phishing is one of the most common and effective methods of cyber attack. By conducting a phishing assessment, you can identify gaps in your employees' awareness, improve your overall security, and reduce the risk of a successful attack, data breach, or financial loss.
How does a Phishing Assessment work?
A Phishing Assessment involves sending simulated phishing emails or messages to employees. These tests mimic real-world phishing tactics, such as email spoofing or social engineering, to assess how employees handle potential threats. After the test, a detailed report is provided, highlighting areas of weakness and recommendations for training.
Rootshell Security go one step further by offering Intelligence-led Phishing Assessments. This demonstrates how a threat actor could exploit publicly available information to plan and launch an attack in the first place.
How do phishing tests help with employee training?
Phishing tests provide employees with hands-on experience in recognizing phishing attempts. The results can help identify areas where additional training is needed, enabling you to tailor cybersecurity training programs to reduce human error and improve overall awareness.
How do phishing assessments improve security?
Phishing assessments help identify vulnerabilities in your security awareness program, improve employee readiness, and reinforce security protocols. By regularly testing your employees, you ensure they are well-prepared to recognize and respond to phishing threats, reducing the risk of data breaches.
- Understand how publicly available information about your organization could enable an attack and take steps to reduce it
- Measure the ability of your staff to identify phishing emails and test your incident response
- Pinpoint where employee training is needed
Is the phishing test safe for my employees?
Yes, phishing assessments are designed to be a safe, controlled environment for testing and learning. The mock attacks are completely harmless and meant to simulate real-world threats so your employees can gain valuable experience without putting your data or systems at risk.
How often should we conduct a Phishing Assessment?
We recommend conducting phishing assessments regularly—ideally every 3-6 months. Regular testing helps track employee progress, identify trends, and adapt your security training to threats.
What do I get after a Phishing Assessment?
After the test, you will receive a report that includes details on who clicked on phishing links, what type of phishing was used, and areas that need improvement. The report will also provide recommendations for addressing any gaps in training or security practices.
How can I prepare my team for a Phishing Assessment?
While preparation for a phishing assessment isn’t required, we recommend that employees be aware of general cybersecurity best practices before testing begins. Educating your team on basic phishing awareness can help them better recognize phishing attempts during the test.
