A phishing Mitigation Solution using Human Behaviour and Emotions that Influence the Success of Phishing Attacks

Abstract

Phishing is a social engineering scam that can cause financial and reputational damage to people and organisations. Studies have demonstrated the effects of human behaviour and emotions on people's security behaviour, such as falling into a phishing scam. Moreover, several studies show the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on human emotions, impacting phishing attempts' success. In this study, we have developed a solution using previous studies' results to identify vulnerable users (i.e., those at risk of clicking on phishing links) in organisations. The solution assigns proper mitigation actions to those high-risk users. The system contains behaviour measurement, risk scoring, and mitigation modules that can mature and develop accuracy over time. Furthermore, situations similar to a pandemic are considered in the solution. The proposed solution will help organisations focus more on protecting high-risk users and reducing successful phishing attacks. This solution should be used in combination with technical anti-phishing and cybersecurity awareness training campaigns to achieve better results.