27 Phishing Survey Questions

Employee Phishing Behavior Survey

Sample questions

1. In the last 6 months, how often have you clicked a link in an email before confirming the sender was legitimate?

2. If a message appears to come from a senior leader and requests urgent action, how likely are you to verify it through another channel?

3. What is your usual response when you notice a suspicious email in your inbox?

4. Have you ever opened an attachment from an unknown or unexpected sender at work?

5. How often do you check the sender address, link destination, or context before responding to a message?

See what people actually do

Why & When to Use

Use this section after a phishing incident, a simulation, or a regular review cycle when you want to measure real behavior, not just polished test-taking skills.

A phishing quiz for employees can show what people know, but a behavior survey shows what happens in the wild, where urgency, distraction, and habit love to cause chaos.

Here’s the thing: people often ace a phishing awareness test and still click first and think later.

That gap is exactly why this format matters.

It helps you measure habits like clicking, replying, reporting, ignoring, or escalating suspicious messages, which gives you a much clearer picture than basic phishing awareness test answers ever could.

Plus, it can uncover patterns that a standard phishing quiz with answers might miss, such as employees trusting senior-sounding requests or skipping checks when they are busy.

Use questions that focus on actual actions and recent habits:

• Ask about what employees did, not what they think they should do.

• Keep responses anonymous so people answer honestly without fear of blame.

• Look for mismatches between confidence and behavior.

• Compare results against phishing questions from training or a phishing awareness test to spot weak points.

On top of that, this survey is especially useful when you want to catch risky routines early, before survey phishing turns one quick click into a very expensive lesson.

Workplace phishing research found authority- and urgency-themed emails significantly increase employee susceptibility, making behavior-focused survey questions especially useful after simulations or incidents. Source

Phishing Reporting Readiness Survey

Sample questions

1. Do you know the correct process for reporting a suspected phishing message in your organization?

2. How confident are you that you could report a phishing attempt within 5 minutes of spotting it?

3. What is the main reason you might hesitate to report a suspicious message?

4. Have you ever chosen not to report a message because you were unsure whether it was truly malicious?

5. How clear is your organization’s guidance on what to do after reporting a phishing attempt?

Speed matters when something smells phishy

Why & When to Use

Use this survey when you want to improve how fast people report suspicious emails, text messages, login prompts, chat messages, or even voice calls pretending to be IT or leadership.

It works especially well right after you launch a reporting policy, add a report button, update your email workflow, or run an awareness campaign tied to a phishing quiz for employees.

Here’s the thing: a phishing awareness test can tell you whether people recognize red flags, but it does not always show whether they know what to do next.

That matters because perfect phishing awareness test answers are not very helpful if a suspicious message just sits there like a raccoon in the attic.

This survey helps you find out whether employees know where, when, and how to report suspected phishing across channels, including survey phishing, SMS phishing, collaboration-tool messages, and voice phishing.

Use it to uncover practical blockers like:

• uncertainty about whether the message is truly malicious

• fear of being wrong or bothering the security team

• time pressure during a busy workday

• unclear ownership or confusing reporting steps

Plus, comparing responses with a phishing quiz with answers or other phishing questions can show whether knowledge is turning into action.

Role-Based Phishing Risk Survey

Sample questions

1. How often does your role require you to respond to requests involving payments, credentials, employee data, or sensitive files?

2. Which phishing scenario is most likely to target your job function?

3. How confident are you in verifying unusual requests related to your department’s daily tasks?

4. Have you received requests that appeared legitimate but later seemed suspicious based on timing, tone, or sender identity?

5. What type of phishing guidance would be most useful for your role?

Different roles attract different bait

Why & When to Use

Use this survey when you want to move beyond a one-size-fits-all phishing quiz for employees and tailor training to what people actually face on the job.

Here’s the thing: finance, HR, procurement, IT, executives, and customer support do not get targeted in the same way, so they should not all get the exact same phishing awareness test.

Finance teams often deal with invoice approvals, wire requests, and vendor changes.

HR teams are more likely to see benefits-update scams, fake employee record requests, and payroll-related tricks that look oddly routine until they are not.

That is why role-based phishing questions work so well.

They help you spot where each department is exposed to credential harvesting, fake document requests, survey phishing, or impersonation attempts that fit daily workflows a little too perfectly.

Use this survey to uncover risks like:

• fake invoice approvals sent to finance

• payroll or benefits scams aimed at HR

• vendor impersonation targeting procurement

• password-reset or MFA prompts sent to IT

• urgent executive-style requests hitting assistants or support teams

Plus, when you compare results with a phishing awareness test answers review, you can see whether people just know the theory or can handle the scams most likely to land in their own inbox.

Research shows phishing susceptibility rises when email lures align with employees’ job context, supporting role-based survey questions and training design (NIST research paper).

Post-Training Phishing Knowledge Check Survey

Sample questions

1. After recent training, how confident are you in spotting common phishing warning signs?

2. Which action is safest when you receive an unexpected request to reset your password?

3. Which of these message characteristics should raise immediate concern?

4. How well did the training explain how attackers create urgency or impersonate trusted contacts?

5. What phishing topic do you still feel least prepared to handle?

Check learning before it quietly wanders off

Why & When to Use

Use this survey right after training, or 30 to 60 days later, to see what people actually remember.

Here’s the thing: a phishing awareness test should not just measure who stayed awake during the slides.

This format works well when you want a flexible phishing quiz for employees that checks understanding without making the whole thing feel like a school exam.

Plus, it helps you confirm whether your phishing awareness training landed the big ideas, like suspicious links, fake login pages, urgency tactics, impersonation, and odd sender behavior.

It is especially useful if you are looking for a practical phishing awareness test format that feels lightweight, clear, and easy to complete.

You can keep it survey-focused while still using phishing questions that feel similar to a phishing quiz with answers.

For example, you might include:

• confidence-rating questions

• scenario-based phishing questions

• multiple-choice items with short explanations

• open-text feedback about confusing topics

On top of that, consider whether to include answer explanations after each item.

Many teams search for phishing awareness test answers, but the real goal is not memorizing a cheat sheet.

It is helping people understand why an answer is right, so the next suspicious email does not win an Oscar for Best Fake Invoice.

Simulated Phishing Follow-Up Survey

Sample questions

1. If you interacted with the simulated message, what made it appear legitimate?

2. If you recognized the simulation, which clue helped you identify it as suspicious?

3. Did time pressure or workload affect how carefully you reviewed the message?

4. How realistic did the simulated phishing message feel compared with messages you receive in your normal work?

5. What additional guidance would help you avoid similar phishing attempts in the future?

Turn click data into useful insight

Why & When to Use

Use this survey after a phishing simulation campaign when you want to understand why people clicked, ignored, reported, or successfully avoided the message.

Here’s the thing: a results dashboard can tell you what happened, but it rarely tells you why.

This section works especially well after internal phishing awareness test exercises or simulation-based programs where you want more than pass-fail numbers.

A good phishing quiz for employees should help you uncover root causes, not just collect statistics that sit around looking busy.

Plus, this format helps you learn whether issues came from lack of knowledge, workload pressure, realistic copy, confusing sender details, or unclear reporting steps.

That makes it a strong companion to a phishing awareness test, especially when you are reviewing behavior after a realistic drill.

You can also use these phishing questions to improve future training, reporting workflows, and message design.

For example, this survey can reveal:

• which cues made the message feel trustworthy

• whether employees felt rushed or distracted

• how realistic the simulation seemed

• what support people still need after the exercise

On top of that, keep the tone learning-oriented, not punitive.

People give better answers when the survey feels like improvement, not a pop hunt for phishing awareness test answers.

Best Practices for Writing and Using Phishing Survey Questions

Sample questions

1. Are your survey questions specific enough to measure one behavior or knowledge area at a time?

2. Do your questions avoid leading employees toward the “correct” answer?

3. Are you collecting responses anonymously when behavior honesty matters most?

4. Have you included a mix of knowledge, confidence, and behavior questions?

5. Do you have a plan to act on the survey results once responses are collected?

Better questions create better security habits

Why & When to Use

Use this section when you want your phishing quiz for employees or follow-up survey to produce answers you can actually use.

Here’s the thing: weak wording creates messy data, and messy data is about as helpful as a screen door on a submarine.

This section fits best after your survey types, because now you can sharpen how you write, deliver, and review each phishing awareness test.

Plus, it helps you avoid common traps like vague wording, accidental bias, and questions that quietly push people toward expected phishing awareness test answers.

When done well, a phishing awareness test should measure what people know, how confident they feel, and what they would really do.

Use these practical Dos and Don’ts to make your phishing questions clearer and more actionable.

Dos

• Do keep questions short, plain-language, and scenario-based.

• Do tailor surveys by audience, role, and training maturity.

• Do mix scales, multiple choice, and open feedback sparingly.

• Do ask about confidence and actual behavior separately.

• Do review results by trend, not just individual score.

Don’ts

• Don’t turn every survey into a high-pressure test.

• Don’t use vague wording like “suspicious activity” without context.

• Don’t ask double-barreled questions that measure two things at once.

• Don’t shame employees for incorrect answers or past mistakes.

• Don’t collect responses without follow-up action.

On top of that, if people keep searching for phishing awareness test answers, your survey may be testing memory more than judgment.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in a Phishing Survey

Sample questions

1. Are you asking too many technical questions for a non-technical audience?

2. Are your survey scenarios realistic enough to reflect current phishing tactics?

3. Do your questions measure reporting confidence as well as detection ability?

4. Are you accidentally rewarding memorized phishing quiz with answers behavior instead of critical thinking?

5. Have you made it clear how the organization will use the survey results?

Collect insights, not just checkbox answers

Why & When to Use

Use this section when you want to avoid building a phishing quiz for employees that looks useful but produces fuzzy, misleading results.

It works especially well for teams creating a first survey or replacing an old phishing awareness test that feels stuck in another internet decade.

Here’s the thing: collecting answers is easy, but collecting insights is where the real value lives.

A weak phishing awareness test can overfocus on jargon, strange scenarios, or guessed phishing awareness test answers instead of showing how people actually spot and report threats.

Common mistakes to watch for include:

• Making the survey too long, so people rush and click anything that looks finish-shaped.

• Using technical language that confuses employees instead of measuring awareness.

• Writing unrealistic examples that do not match real survey phishing or modern phishing questions.

• Forgetting to measure reporting confidence along with detection ability.

• Giving every role the same survey, even when risk level and exposure are different.

On top of that, if your survey rewards memorized phishing quiz with answers behavior, you may miss whether people can think clearly under pressure.

Plus, realistic scenarios, role-based wording, and simple language turn a basic phishing awareness test into something you can actually use to improve training.

Turning Phishing Survey Insights Into Action

Sample questions

1. Which survey findings point to the highest-risk employee behaviors?

2. What knowledge gaps appear consistently across departments or locations?

3. Which groups need role-specific phishing training based on their responses?

4. Where are employees least confident in reporting suspicious messages?

5. What changes should be made first based on the survey data collected?

Turn results into smarter next steps

Why & When to Use

Use this final section when you want your phishing quiz for employees to lead to action, not just a nice-looking spreadsheet that quietly gathers dust.

It fits best at the end of a phishing awareness test review, when you are ready to connect results, training updates, and risk reduction in a practical way.

Here’s the thing: survey data only helps if you use it to decide what changes first.

If employees miss the same phishing questions, struggle with survey phishing scenarios, or rely on guessed phishing awareness test answers, those patterns should shape your next move.

Start by prioritizing what creates the most risk:

• Update training content where the phishing awareness test shows repeated confusion.

• Refine reporting instructions if people can spot threats but do not know what to do next.

• Schedule simulations for teams that clicked through risky scenarios or misunderstood confirmation hacking clarification question examples.

• Target high-risk groups with role-specific refreshers instead of retraining everyone the same way.

• Repeat the phishing quiz with answers or survey later to measure improvement over time.

On top of that, compare departments, locations, and job roles to spot trends early.

Plus, when your phishing awareness test answers reveal weak spots, you can respond with sharper communication, better habits, and fewer "oops, I clicked it" moments.