Phishing Simulation for a Small Business: Is It Worth It?

What a phishing simulation is, and what it tells you

A simulation is a test campaign. You choose a fake email, such as a parcel delivery notice or a shared document, send it to staff, and the tool records what each person does. The useful results are:

• Click rate: how many opened the link or attachment.
• Credential entry rate: how many typed a username and password into the fake sign-in page. This is the number that matters most.
• Report rate: how many used the Report button or told you. A high report rate means a real attack gets spotted quickly.
• Time to first report: how long before someone flagged it.

A simulation does not teach anything by itself. It shows where training is needed and whether earlier training worked. If your team has never had a basic session on spotting phishing, start there; our guide on how to spot a phishing email is a good first read for staff.

Is it worth it for a small business?

For a team of five to fifty, a simulation is useful but it is not the first priority. Phishing that steals a password is far less damaging when MFA is on, and fake invoices are best stopped by a payment verification rule. Do these first, then test.

The CSA's SingCERT phishing advice lists the basic signs to train on: spelling and grammar mistakes, urgent or threatening wording, a sender address that does not match the name, and links whose real address differs from the text. A simulation checks whether staff apply them under normal work pressure.

Microsoft attack simulation training: licence and cost

Microsoft 365 has a built-in tool called Attack simulation training in the Microsoft Defender portal. Microsoft's get started guide says it requires a Microsoft 365 E5 or Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 2 licence. It offers credential harvest, malware attachment, link in attachment, drive-by URL and other techniques, with assigned training for people who fall for it.

Microsoft also offers a 90-day Defender for Office 365 trial from the Defender portal's trials hub, which some small businesses use to run a first simulation. Check the trial terms and set a reminder before it converts to a paid subscription. Plan 2 also adds threat hunting and investigation tools, so for a business that wants stronger email protection anyway, the cost covers more than simulations.

Cheaper and free alternatives

If you are not on Plan 2, you have three realistic options.

• Security awareness platforms such as KnowBe4, Proofpoint or Hoxhunt bundle training videos with simulations. Pricing is usually per user per year and often only by quote, so compare offers for your headcount.
• Gophish is a free, open-source phishing framework. It is capable but needs someone technical to host it, set up a sending domain and build templates, and you are responsible for keeping it secure.
• A manual tabletop test. Show staff three real-looking emails in a team meeting and ask what they would do. No tool, no tracking, but it still surfaces who would have clicked and starts the right conversation.

Our security awareness training cost guide compares the main training formats and what they cost a Singapore business.

How to run a phishing simulation fairly

Run badly, a simulation teaches staff that IT is trying to catch them out. Run well, it makes reporting a normal habit. These steps keep it on the right side.

1. 1

   Tell staff the programme exists

   Announce that the company will send occasional test phishing emails during the year, without saying when. People should know tests happen, so no one feels tricked.

2. 2

   Get management sign-off and set rules

   Agree in writing who sees individual results, how long they are kept, and that no one is disciplined for a single click.

3. 3

   Pick a realistic, decent lure

   Use common business themes: a shared document, a delivery notice, a password expiry. Avoid fake bonuses, medical results, layoffs or anything personal.

4. 4

   Make reporting easy

   Check that the Report button works in Outlook and on phones, and that reports go to someone who will reply.

5. 5

   Send, then follow up within a day

   Give anyone who entered a password a short, private training module. Thank everyone who reported it, by name if they are happy with that.

6. 6

   Share team results, not names

   Tell the whole team the overall click and report rates, and one lesson. Repeat in six to twelve months and compare.

Simulation data is information about your employees. Keep it to the people who need it and delete individual results when they are no longer useful, in line with your PDPA retention practice.

What to measure, and what to do with the results

The goal is a rising report rate over time. If MFA and email filtering are set up properly, as in our Microsoft 365 security checklist, a single click is rarely a disaster; a culture where nobody reports suspicious email is.

Do it yourself or get help?

If you have Plan 2 or E5, the built-in tool walks you through a simulation in under an hour. Without it, start with training and a tabletop test, and add a simulation platform once your team has the basics.

Our Security Awareness Training (S$390) sets up a 12-month plan of 5-minute lessons in your own Microsoft, Google or training account, covering Singapore scams such as fake PayNow and delivery messages, with completion tracking. Email Threat Protection (S$290) tightens your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace filtering so fewer real phishing emails reach staff in the first place.