Phishing Campaign Case Study

Project Overview

This case study documents a comprehensive phishing simulation campaign designed to assess and improve organizational awareness of social engineering threats. The project demonstrates end-to-end campaign planning, execution, analysis, and remediation through targeted user education.

• Establish baseline metrics for organizational susceptibility to phishing attacks
• Identify high-risk user groups and behaviors requiring targeted training
• Demonstrate realistic social engineering tactics in a controlled environment
• Develop and deliver customized security awareness training materials
• Measure improvement in user awareness and reporting behaviors
• Create sustainable processes for ongoing security awareness

Technical Implementation

The campaign utilized GoPhish as the primary platform for email template creation, campaign management, and results tracking. Infrastructure included:

• Dedicated SMTP server configuration for email delivery
• Custom HTML email templates mimicking common phishing tactics
• Realistic credential harvesting landing pages for tracking
• Analytics dashboard for real-time campaign monitoring

⚠️ Solo Proof-of-Concept Project

This was a self-directed learning project - I set up GoPhish in a controlled environment and tested it on my own email account to understand how phishing campaigns work from an attacker's perspective. No real users were targeted. This is purely educational to demonstrate understanding of social engineering tactics and defensive security awareness.

GoPhish Platform Setup

• Configured GoPhish server and SMTP for email delivery
• Created convincing email templates with variable injection ({{.URL}}, {{.FirstName}})
• Built fake landing pages to demonstrate credential harvesting
• Tracked campaign metrics: emails sent, opened, clicked, data submitted

Social Engineering Tactics

• Authority: Impersonating trusted sources (HR, IT, benefits department)
• Urgency: Creating false deadlines to pressure quick action
• Legitimacy: Professional design, proper formatting, and appropriate context
• Trust Indicators: Clean layout and familiar branding

Red Flags Users Should Spot

• Generic greetings instead of personalized names
• Unusual urgency or threats
• Suspicious sender addresses (check actual email, not display name)
• Unexpected requests for credentials or personal info
• Hover over links before clicking - does the URL look legitimate?

🤝 Responsible Use & Ethics

This project demonstrates understanding of offensive security techniques for defensive purposes only. All testing was conducted on my own infrastructure with my own email account. Phishing is illegal without proper authorization - always obtain written permission and operate within ethical boundaries.