Peering into the Phish Bowl: An Analysis of Real-World Phishing Cues

Published

August 7, 2023

Author(s)

Lorenzo Neil, Shanee Dawkins, Jody Jacobs, Julia Sharp

Abstract

Organizations use simulated phishing awareness train-ing exercises to help users identify, detect, and defend against the ever-changing phishing threat landscape. Realistic phishing emails are used to test users' ability to spot a phish from visible cues. However, there are no metrics aimed at classifying the saliency of these visual cues. In this research, we analyzed different types of cues present in real-world phishing emails. The most common cues and cue types are presented, along with the frequency of their use in real-world phishing emails.

Proceedings Title

Proceedings of the Nineteenth Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security

Conference Dates

August 6-8, 2023

Conference Location

Anaheim, CA, US

Conference Title

Nineteenth Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

NIST Phish Scale, phishing, usable cybersecurity, cybersecurity awareness training

Citation

Neil, L. , Dawkins, S. , Jacobs, J. and Sharp, J. (2023), Peering into the Phish Bowl: An Analysis of Real-World Phishing Cues, Proceedings of the Nineteenth Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security, Anaheim, CA, US, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=956178 (Accessed October 13, 2025)