How to Use a Cyber-Attack Simulation to Reduce Your Security Risk

Cyber threats are a growing problem, with hackers becoming more bold and skilled. These attacks are no longer aimed solely at large corporations—small and medium-sized businesses are now frequent targets.

It can happen in an instant: an employee receives a scam email that looks legitimate, clicks on a link, and unknowingly allows malware into the system. From there, the malware can spread throughout the network. If ransomware is involved, your data gets encrypted, operations halt, and your reputation takes a severe hit. This scenario is a daily reality for many businesses.

Organizations can strengthen their defenses by identifying vulnerabilities and mapping potential attack paths before exploiting them and modelling real-world attack scenarios. For businesses or MSPs supporting SMBs, phishing simulations are a powerful tool to assess how prepared employees are to handle such threats. These exercises reveal gaps or weaknesses that might go unnoticed, allowing you to address them with targeted security awareness training. Fixing these gaps is critical to ensuring your employees become your strongest line of defense—a "human firewall"—instead of a potential risk.

Investing in cyber-attack simulations is no longer optional; it's an essential step to safeguard the future and stability of your business.

Cyber-attack simulations can prevent this targeting of people and credentials. Here, TitanHQ explores what a cyber-attack simulation is and why it is a crucial cybersecurity measure to protect your people and organization.

What is a Cyber-Attack Simulation?

Carrying out a cyber-attack simulation is a proactive and positive response to the increasingly human-centric and sophisticated methods used to breach an organization'’s systems and people. A cyber-attack simulation is a mockup of a cyber-attack based on cybercriminals'’ tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). The simulation is based on typical attack scenarios that are likely to be used to breach the security used by a company. The simulation emulates the methods and tactics used by cybercriminals, including human-centric attack techniques such as social engineering and phishing, to replicate a real world cyber attack. Also, cyber-attack simulations are used as an extension to cyber security training, testing the training effectiveness after running training sessions. Some advanced cyber-attack simulations use simulated phishing to test out vulnerabilities in processes and employees'’ use of technology.

To sum up, a cyber-attack simulation will test the current security measures to identify vulnerabilities in an organization's security systems, including its people. The insights gained through a cyber-attack simulation provide the information needed to focus and tighten an organization's security posture. 

TitanHQ’s Specialized Phishing Simulation Emails

TitanHQ lures are uniquely designed to protect your organization against ever-increasing cyber threats. By leveraging our comprehensive set of carefully created lures in a phishing simulation, you can raise awareness, build resilience, and help users mitigate against the risk of falling victim to a phishing attack.

Every TitanHQ lure is tailored to a specific phishing threat category. Take a closer look at some sample lures for each threat category.

How Does a Simulated Cyber-Attack Work?

Cyber-attack simulations work at varying levels to detect vulnerabilities across an organization's attack surface. For example, one scenario might look at how vulnerable an employee is when confronted with a phishing email; another might look at vulnerabilities around ransomware attacks. The steps below show how a cyber-attack simulation is set up and executed: 

1. Design the Scenario: Develop scenarios that fit the current landscape using security intelligence from cyber-attack events. For example, if Business Email Compromise (BEC) attackers are targeting your organization sector, develop a scenario based on the tactics used by BEC scammers.

2. Gather the Data: Attackers use intelligence gathering and reconnaissance tactics to collect employee and C-Level email addresses and other pertinent data on a target organization. Perform a similar exercise to locate a list of potential employees to target during the simulation.

3. Identify the Participants and Roles: Prepare for the simulation by ensuring that your list of participants represents your organization and is diverse. Also, what roles do the participants play in the organization? This may be important in tailoring the simulation to reflect real-life cyber-attacks that are based on roles. For example, an administrator may receive certain types of spear phishing emails that specifically target login credentials. In contrast, other roles, such as accounts payable, may be subject to subtle social engineering emails.

4. Set Up the Simulation Environment: This step in designing and delivering a cyber-attack simulation can benefit from using tools such as simulated phishing platforms like TitanHQ Security Awareness Training. Simulated phishing provides the toolkit to test employees' reactions to phishing emails and associated malicious websites. The simulation platform must be tailored to reflect the varying simulation scenarios that are being tested. 

5. Deploy and Execute: Send out your simulated cyber-attack / spoof phishing campaign. It is essential to watch and learn from employee responses to the attack. TitanHQ excels in this, as the software provides automated, real-time training intervention. Suppose an employee performs an action that would result in a successful attack. In that case, the software will automatically pop up a warning and deliver a training session, explaining what went wrong and how to avoid this type of behavior during an actual attack.

6. Reflect and Learn: The results of the simulated cyber-attack should be collected, evaluated, and disseminated. Cyber-attack simulators, such as phishing simulation software, typically provide analysis of a simulation session. Visualization of these results shows progress. The whole organization should know the outcome of a phishing simulation exercise as a cooperative group event. Cyber security training and simulation exercises can become part of the company's culture by engaging all staff members. 

7. Rinse and Repeat: Cyber-attack simulations should be repeated regularly. Regular training helps to form memories and encourages patterns of positive security behavior. Some advanced simulated security training platforms will provide automation to ensure regular training happens, reducing the effort and overhead needed from IT.

Theft of credentials is the topmost attack method, with almost half (49%) of all data breaches involving credentials.

Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report

Why are Cyber-Attack Simulations Necessary?

Cyber-attacks such as ransomware, Business Email Compromise (BEC), and data breaches target employees and C-level staff. Cyber-attack simulations are essential to reduce the likelihood of successful real-world attacks. As cyber criminals increasingly manipulate and trick humans, these simulations must also take on a human focus. As social engineers influence human behavior, simulations must test this aspect of security. Simulations of security attacks such as phishing and social engineering can help staff understand how cybercriminals operate and help to change security behavior over time. As the global average cost of a data breach in 2023 was found to be $4.45 million, it is essential now more than ever to ensure employees are empowered to take a positive stand against cyber-attacks.

Benefits of Cyber Attack Simulations

Cyber attack simulations offer numerous benefits to organizations, including:

• Improved Security Posture: By simulating real-world cyber attacks, organizations can identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses in their security controls. This proactive approach allows them to strengthen their defenses and improve their overall security posture, making it harder for cybercriminals to succeed.

• Enhanced Incident Response Capabilities: Cyber attack simulations help organizations develop and refine their incident response plans. By practicing how to respond to simulated attacks, security teams can ensure they are better equipped to respond to and contain real-world cyber attacks, minimizing damage and recovery time.

• Increased Detection Capabilities: Simulations help security teams develop the skills and expertise to detect and respond to real-world cyber attacks. This hands-on experience reduces the risk of data breaches and other security incidents by improving the organization’s detection capabilities.

• Better Understanding of Real-World Threats: Cyber attack simulations provide organizations with a deeper understanding of real-world threat actors' tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). This knowledge enables them to develop more effective security controls and incident response strategies tailored to counteract these threats.

• Improved Employee Awareness and Training: Simulations can be used to educate employees on the risks associated with cyber-attacks and the importance of cybersecurity best practices. By exposing employees to simulated attacks, organizations can reduce the risk of human error and improve overall security awareness, turning employees into a strong line of defense.

Conducting a Cyber Attack Simulation

Conducting a cyber attack simulation involves several steps, including:

• Planning and Preparation: This involves defining the scope and objectives of the simulation, identifying the types of attacks to be simulated, and developing a plan for executing the simulation. Proper planning ensures that the simulation is relevant and effective in testing the organization’s security controls and incident response capabilities.

• Simulation Execution: This involves executing the simulation, which may involve sending fake phishing emails, simulating network attacks, or simulating endpoint attacks. During this phase, it is crucial to monitor and document the responses of the participants to gather valuable data.

• Data Collection and Analysis: This involves collecting data on the simulation, including metrics on detection and response times, and analyzing the results to identify areas for improvement. Analyzing the data helps organizations understand their strengths and weaknesses and develop strategies to enhance their security posture.

Frequency and Timing of Simulations

The frequency and timing of cyber attack simulations will depend on the specific needs and goals of the organization. However, it is generally recommended that organizations conduct simulations on a regular basis, such as monthly, quarterly or bi-annually. Regular simulations ensure that security controls and incident response capabilities are up-to-date and effective, allowing organizations to stay ahead of evolving cyber threats.

Cyber-Attack Simulation Software

Harmful cyber-attacks - phishing and social engineering to allow evaluation of the threats to an organization. TitanHQ security awareness training is a defense-in-depth solution designed to prevent human-centric cyber-attacks. The simulated phishing platform part of the broader security awareness training package, TitanHQ SAT, has built-in features that make it ideal for use in cyber-attack simulations. These features include the following:

• An Extensive Array of Email Templates: TitanHQ SAT provides email templates tailored to individual scenarios. 
• Direct Email Injection: MSPs and administrators can deliver phishing simulations to employee inboxes directly. During multiple scenario simulations, this feature saves time and effort; there is no need to configure allowed lists and firewalls.
• Real-Time Intervention Training: If an employee falls for the simulated phishing attack, an intervention event will be initiated, teaching the employee about what happened and how to avoid this behavior.
• Analytics and Reporting: Comprehensive and accessible reporting demonstrates the results of a cyber-attack simulation and phishing simulations. Reports provide insights to allow further fine-tuning of regular cyber-attacks to improve statistics and see the results of positive security behavior on cyber-attack success rates.
• Automation: Cyber-attack simulations can be automated to help reduce the overload on IT teams and ensure that simulations are carried out regularly.
• MSP Deployments: TitanHQ SAT is a SaaS solution that a managed service provider (MSP) can deliver. This is a cost-effective way to provide and manage cyber-attack simulations.

TitanHQ SAT simulated phishing platform is an integrated part of TitanHQ's holistic security awareness training platform for comprehensive security training. Contact our experts to find out how to deliver cyber-attack simulations to reduce your risk of a cyber-attack.

Ready to Strengthen Your Defense Against Cyber Threats? Discover the Power of TitanHQs Cyber Attack Simulations.

Book Free Demo