Using Attachment-Based Phishing Scenarios in Adaptive
Adaptive now supports attachment-based attack vectors in email phishing scenarios. This update allows you to train employees using realistic “attachment download” lures with highly reliable reporting.
What Are Attachment Attack Vector Scenarios?
Attachment phishing scenarios simulate messages that appear to include files such as PDFs, ZIPs, or documents.
Instead of real files, Adaptive inserts an embedded image of an attachment into the email body. This allows us to track when an employee clicks the attachment preview with far greater accuracy than traditional attachment simulations.
What You Can Do with This Feature
Admins can now:
1. Use Attachment Scenarios from the Scenario Library
Filter for the Attachment attack vector, just as you would filter for links, QR codes, callbacks, or other vectors, to discover our collection of attachment scenarios.
2. Create Custom Company Scenarios with Attachments
Add a spoofed attachment to any company-authored phishing scenario.
Choose from common file types: .pdf, .zip, .docx, .xlsx.
Customize the file name to fit your scenario.
How Adaptive Renders Attachments for Employees
To make simulations feel realistic, Adaptive automatically matches the attachment style to the employee’s email provider:
Google Workspace users receive a Gmail-style attachment preview.
Microsoft/Outlook users receive an Outlook-style attachment preview.
If your company has not set a provider for a domain during onboarding, employees will receive the Outlook-style attachment by default.
Employee Experience
Employees will see:
A realistic email with a Gmail- or Outlook-style attachment preview.
A clickable attachment image, which triggers the “failure” event if clicked.