Questions requests that lean on authority

Checks before acting when a message invokes a boss, executive, government body, or IT department.

Authority cues raised clicks in a simulation sent to about 62,000 employees. Evidence across studies is mixed, so this behavior is best paired with verification (PB-03).

How to observe it: Click and report rates on authority-themed Simulations compared with other Tactics.

Supporting evidence

• Persuasion: How phishing emails can influence users and bypass security measures Ferreira & Teles, 2019
• Exploring susceptibility to phishing in the workplace Williams et al., 2018

Context

• Predicting susceptibility to social influence in phishing emails Parsons et al., 2019

Challenging evidence

• Cognitive Triaging of Phishing Attacks Heijden & Allodi, 2019