Phishing simulations should be about educating employees, not punishing them. Train them on what they missed and if training material is available check where it might be lacking. Nobody learns from having their bonus taken away. It also only serves to stimulate a culture were people prefer not reporting possible security issues they might have caused, in order to avoid further pay cuts.

[–] JoeyJoeJoeJr@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 months ago

If someone is consistently falling for phishing emails (real, or from the IT department), shouldn't that person eventually be fired? Isn't that a punishment?

If there is neither a punishment nor a reward, what is the incentive to learn? Some people may not need one. Many others do.

I agree that a single failure resulting in the loss of significant income might be harsh, but I think there needs to be a way to convince people to take the issue seriously, and a punishment of some kind is therefore always warranted (e.g. eventual firing).

You can balance out the issue by creating a reward system as well, e.g. if you report all of the test emails sent to you in a year (i.e. not just ignore them), your bonus is increased by X% or something. Similarly, if you report an actual phishing email, your bonus is increased by some percent, even if you initially fell for it. I think it is possible to foster a consciousness and honest culture, with a system that includes punishments.