The Wall Street Journal recently highlighted a growing frustration in the workplace: phishing tests have become more deceptive—and employees aren’t happy about it. Organizations of all sizes are spending time and money crafting elaborate phishing traps meant to teach employees about online threats. Yet studies show these tests may not be as effective as intended, and they can even create distrust or shame within the workplace.

The Wall Street Journal article showed some examples of how these tests can get out of hand. One university employee got a scary message about an Ebola outbreak. Others were tricked into thinking there were free event tickets or urgent crises. The goal is to teach, but these tricks often make people feel tricked or, worse, distrust their school’s messages. Even research says that trick-based training can do more harm than good, only giving a little bit of improvement and sometimes even making people less aware of security.

At ThreatSTOP, we believe there’s a smarter way to protect your organization. Instead of waiting for someone to fall for a fake phishing link, we offer proactive protection. Our Protective DNS solutions (DNS Defense Cloud and DNS Defense) and our IP Defense solution actively shield your organization from real-time threats. Instead of scolding users for making a mistake, we’d rather say, “We saved you!”

 

Why Phishing Tests Alone Aren’t Enough

• False Sense of Security: Repeated tests may desensitize employees. After passing a few simulations, they may lower their guard, assuming they’ve mastered phishing detection.

• Increased Distrust: Overly dramatic or emotionally charged ruses can erode confidence in legitimate company communications.

• Limited Efficacy: As the article points out, studies from institutions like ETH Zurich and UC San Diego found limited improvement—and sometimes a negative impact—from phishing tests when measured scientifically.

 

A Better Approach: Proactive Protections

ThreatSTOP’s solutions are designed to stop threats before they reach unsuspecting users:

1. DNS Defense Cloud – This fully cloud-based service routes DNS queries through ThreatSTOP’s secure infrastructure. Malicious domains, such as phishing sites, are automatically blocked, preventing dangerous requests from ever reaching end users.

2. DNS Defense – An on-premises or hybrid option for organizations that prefer to maintain their own DNS servers, but still want ThreatSTOP’s robust intelligence. Designed to seamlessly integrate with your existing infrastructure, it applies the same proactive protections and keeps malicious domains at bay.

3. IP Defense – Our IP-based protection that goes beyond DNS. With IP Defense, you can manage a constantly updated block list on firewalls, routers, AWS WAF, or virtually any IP-enabled system. This stops attacks—phishing, DDoS, data exfiltration, and more—at the IP layer, blocking known bad actors from ever establishing a connection.

 

The Power of “We Saved You”

Instead of an embarrassing pop-up that says, “You failed a phishing test,” let’s imagine a helpful page that politely informs users, “ThreatSTOP just prevented you from visiting a harmful site.”

Instead of shaming users who accidentally click phishing links, we redirect them to a secure block page. This way, we teach them without making them feel embarrassed. By doing this, we create a culture where employees feel supported and not judged.

 

How We Stay Ahead

Our ThreatSTOP Security, Intelligence, and Research team stays on the cutting edge of threat intelligence. They track malicious campaigns, Command and Control (C2) infrastructures, phishing domains, and more—so your organization always has the most current protections at the DNS and IP layers.

 

Why This Matters

1. Reduced Risk: Automated blocking eliminates reliance on an employee’s best guess or memory.

2. Positive Reinforcement: Showing users “You’re protected” fosters a supportive environment that’s more conducive to security awareness.

3. Comprehensive Safeguards: Whether you’re looking to shield a small office or a global enterprise, ThreatSTOP’s protections scale effortlessly.

 

Want to Learn More?

For those interested in joining the ThreatSTOP family, or to learn more about our proactive protections for all environments, we invite you to visit our product page. Discover how our solutions can make a significant difference in your digital security landscape. We have pricing for all sizes of customers! Get started with a Demo today!

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