--- title: "Phishing test and simulation for Swiss SMEs | Avepto" canonical_url: "https://avepto.ch/en/cybersecurity/phishing-test" last_updated: "2026-10-19T12:24:31.624Z" meta: description: "Tailored fake e-mails for each employee, a lesson the moment they click, reports for the audit and the insurer. All year round, for Swiss SMEs." "og:description": "Tailored fake e-mails for each employee, a lesson the moment they click, reports for the audit and the insurer. All year round, for Swiss SMEs." "og:title": "Phishing test and simulation for Swiss SMEs" "twitter:description": "Tailored fake e-mails for each employee, a lesson the moment they click, reports for the audit and the insurer. All year round, for Swiss SMEs." "twitter:title": "Phishing test and simulation for Swiss SMEs" --- # Test your employees against phishing. We send each of your employees fake phishing e-mails throughout the year, and a short lesson arrives the moment a mistake is made. [Contact us](https://avepto.ch/en/contact) Action required: your password expires today Reply Reply all Forward Report MS Microsoft 365 \ To: you Today at 09:41 Hello, Your account password expires today at 5 pm. To avoid an interruption of service, confirm your credentials. Keep my password How to spot a phishing e-mail Three clues give it away. If in doubt, click “Report”. 1. Sender unknown domain 2. Button asks for your credentials 3. Tone “5 pm” urgency Phishing awareness ## Phishing at work, one click is enough. Human error is among the most frequent causes of security incidents in companies. Often, it all starts with a single click in a phishing e-mail. ### Phishing in Switzerland +25% more phishing cases recorded by the cantonal police in 2025. Police crime statistics 2025 ### Who tests their employees Small companies 24% Mid-sized companies 63% Deloitte Switzerland, 2026 ### Reports to the NCSC 12,280 phishing attempts reported to the National Cyber Security Centre in 2025. Half-year report 2025/II The employee journey ## The phishing test, as your employees experience it. Three actions, one reflex. Your employees practise it throughout the year. IT Support now Action required: reset your password before 5 pm That was an exercise. You have just clicked a simulation link. Three clues
Sender
support@avepto-it.example, unknown domain
Link
Domain differs from the text shown
Tone
Artificial urgency: “before 5 pm today”
Surveio 16:04 CHF 50 for your opinion A short interview, a CHF 50 voucher as a thank-you. Report Well spotted. now Report sent. This e-mail was an Avepto simulation. Avepto exercise now USB stick found Arriving at the office, you find a USB stick in the car park… What do you do? I hand it to the IT team, without plugging it in. Correct. A plugged-in stick can install software without you noticing. Learn from a click The missed clues, at once.Report an e-mail One Outlook button, one click.Answer a scenario A real case, the right reflex. Real campaigns in Switzerland ## Your employees, your strongest line of defence. Your employees train all year round, with short exercises that keep them engaged. The right reflex takes hold for good, and your company gains a human firewall. Invoice no. 2026-0418, due today Reply Reply all Forward Report From: Acme Supplies billing@acme-supplies.ch-billing.example 09:12 To:Accounting Subject:Invoice no. 2026-0418, due today Hello, Our invoice no. 2026-0418 is due today. Please view it and confirm payment by tonight. View the invoice Billing, Acme Supplies An invoice from a regular supplier arrives with a link to view it. The sender’s address has changed. What do you do? A I call the supplier on the usual number before opening the link. B I open the link, the invoice carries the supplier’s logo. C I enter my password if the page looks like Microsoft 365. ### Swiss authorities - A refund from the FTA The Federal Tax Administration owes you an amount. - The Serafe licence fee An unpaid radio and TV invoice, chased before debt collection. - The commercial register An invoice that imitates the official publication of your details. ### Everyday services - A Swiss Post parcel on hold CHF 2.90 in customs fees to pay before the parcel is delivered. - Your SwissPass Your SBB travelcard expires, a link to renew it. - Your Cumulus or Supercard points Loyalty points expiring tomorrow, a link to convert them. ### Banking and payment - A UBS or PostFinance alert Your e-banking access is blocked, a link to reactivate it. - A TWINT or PayPal payment A refund is waiting, you only need to accept it in one click. - A QR-bill An invoice to pay, with a new payment code. ### Payment fraud - CEO fraud Management asks for an urgent, discreet transfer. - A new supplier IBAN A supplier announces a change of bank details. - A fake supplier invoice A link to view an invoice from a regular supplier online. For audit and insurance ## Progress you can measure. A documented organisational measure, as standards, the law or your cyber insurance policy expect. - ISO/IEC 27001 International standard - NIS2 European directive - FADP Swiss law The organisation’s progress curve: after a year of tests, employees report two fake e-mails for every click. After a year of tests 2 reports for every click Month 1Month 6Month 12 - Reports - Clicks Source: the platform’s 2026 report, 648 organisations. Management report 01 One page, for the board or the committee. - Click and report rates And their trend since the tests began. - Departments to watch Where the risk concentrates, with no employee name. - Priorities for what comes next What changes in the next campaigns, and why. Compliance report: the coverage of trained employees, shared with management, the auditor and the insurer. Compliance report, 2026 Who is trained, who is left to train Coverage of employees - Trained - In progress - To train Shared with management, the auditor and the insurer. Compliance report 02 Proof that the measure exists and is alive. - The full history Every campaign, dated, with its results. - Coverage Who was tested, who was trained, how often. - Ready for the file A dated, exportable document to attach to the audit or the insurer’s request. Radar chart of one employee’s review: their results by topic, compared with their previous review. Individual review, October 2026 Six topics, two reviews Fake invoices Passwords Impersonation Deliveries CEO fraud Attachments - This review - Previous review Measured against their last review, with no colleague ranking. Individual review 03 Every six months, for each employee. - Their progress, topic by topic The traps they recognise and the ones that still catch them. - Measured against themselves Compared with their previous review, not with their colleagues. - Their next exercises The topics their next simulations work on. Implementation ## Set-up on autopilot, traps tailored to every inbox. Your involvement comes down to a few approvals: access to your Microsoft 365, then the message that informs your employees. Avepto connects your tools, runs the campaigns and presents the results to you. A contact in French-speaking Switzerland follows your company throughout the programme. 1. 01 ### Connect your tools Set-up The service fits into your tools. - #### Connection to your Microsoft 365 Employees, their roles, their departments and their language are taken directly from your directory. - #### A report button Deployed in Outlook on every workstation, it reports a suspicious e-mail in one click, simulated or real. 2. 02 ### Inform your teams Internal communication We draft it, you approve it. - #### A message written with you It explains why the tests are being run, what happens after a click and how the results will be used. - #### Sent before the first test Employees know that tests will take place. They know neither the date nor what the e-mails look like. 3. 03 ### Train the reflexes Simulations Campaigns all year round. - #### Scenarios for each person They follow role, department, language and level. The difficulty grows with the reflexes acquired. - #### A lesson at every mistake After a click, the missed clues appear at once, so people learn with no ranking and no sanction. 4. 04 ### Measure progress Follow-up Clear figures, reviewed with you. - #### Commented reports Click rate, report rate, departments to support. We go through them with you at regular intervals. - #### Priorities for what comes next The adjustments to make, the points to reinforce and what is useful for the audit or the insurer. Frequently asked questions ## Your questions on phishing tests. Telling your teams, the moment of the click, Microsoft 365, the scenarios: what to know before a first campaign. ### What is a phishing test in a company? Definition and purpose A phishing test sends employees fake phishing e-mails, built like a real attacker’s. It measures who clicks, who enters a password and who reports the message. Avepto runs it all year round for Swiss SMEs, with scenarios matched to each person’s role and a short lesson the moment a mistake is made. ### Should employees be told before a phishing test? Telling your employees Yes. A team that has been told treats the test as training, not as a trap. Before the first campaign, an announcement explains that the company is training, why, and what follows a click. Avepto writes it with you. It gives neither the sending dates nor what the e-mails look like, so the measurement stays true. ### What happens when an employee clicks on a fake phishing e-mail? A lesson, not a sanction A page opens at once and shows the clues they missed: the sender’s address, the link, the pressing tone. The lesson lands when it counts, while the mistake is still fresh. The employee is neither singled out nor sanctioned. Management follows rates by department and by scenario, not a list of names. ### Doesn’t Microsoft 365 already offer phishing simulations? Simulations included in Microsoft 365 In part. Microsoft’s simulations require Defender for Office 365 Plan 2, included in the E5 licence. Business Premium, the usual SME licence, includes Plan 1, with no simulation. Avepto runs the programme on its simulation platform, connected to your Microsoft 365, and handles the scenarios, the campaigns and the follow-up for you. ### Do employees receive anything other than fake e-mails? Scenarios as well as e-mails Yes, short scenarios. With Avepto’s phishing test, an exercise also arrives in the inbox, a USB stick found in the car park for instance, with a question and three answers. The employee picks one, then reads why it is the right reflex or not. Scenarios follow each person’s role, department and language, and their difficulty grows with the reflexes acquired. Continue exploring ## Related services, and the reading that goes with them. The services most often deployed alongside this one, and the field notes published by our specialists. Related services - [Identity management MFA, SSO, access reviews.](https://avepto.ch/en/cybersecurity/identity) - [Antivirus & EDR Endpoint detection. Blocks and isolates.](https://avepto.ch/en/cybersecurity/antivirus) - [Microsoft 365 Mail, SharePoint and collaboration. Tenant set up and maintained.](https://avepto.ch/en/productivity/microsoft-365) On the same topic - [![Four colleagues gathered around a laptop in a meeting room in late-afternoon light.](https://assets.avepto.ch/cdn-cgi/image/w=416,h=500,f=auto,q=80,fit=cover/2c761c56-0f4e-48ef-a4aa-b9ad43ce131d.jpg) Phishing and social engineering: train your staff without paralysing them Punitive phishing tests breed mistrust and hidden mistakes: 65% of office workers already bypass security policies. Build a lasting reflex instead with realistic, progressive scenarios, blame-free debriefs, role-based content and metrics tracking reports and detection speed, not just who clicked a decoy link.](https://avepto.ch/en/articles/phishing-training-employees) Next step ## Take stock of your employees. A meeting to assess whether the service suits your company. We then prepare the set-up with you.