Multi‑Vector Security Awareness Training: The 2026 Guide to Phishing, Smishing, and Vishing Simulations

Introduction: Why Email‑Only Training Is Not Enough

Think about a common workday. Your finance lead gets an email from “the CEO,” a text that confirms the request, then a phone call from a familiar sounding voice asking for urgent approval. All three touchpoints feel real.

That is the world you are defending today.

Phishing, smishing, and vishing attacks now arrive as combined campaigns, not single random messages. An estimated 3.4 billion phishing emails are sent every day, and over half of all cybercrime starts with some kind of phishing attempt. At the same time, voice phishing incidents are rising fast as criminals add AI voice cloning and deepfake audio to their toolkit.

If your security awareness training still focuses only on email, your employees are training for the wrong game.

Clear definitions for core terms

To make sure everyone on your team speaks the same language, it helps to define the basics in plain terms.

• Phishing is a fake email that tries to trick someone into clicking a link, opening a file, or giving up sensitive data, such as passwords or payment details. It is still the starting point for a large share of breaches.

• Smishing is phishing over SMS or other messaging apps. Attackers send texts that look like delivery notices, HR updates, or bank alerts, then push victims to a fake site or phone number. A growing share of mobile phishing uses smishing.

• Vishing is voice phishing by phone. The caller pretends to be a trusted person, such as an executive, bank, vendor, or IT support. AI voice cloning now makes these calls sound alarmingly real.

• Voice deepfakes are AI generated voices that copy a real person’s tone, accent, and style from a short audio sample. They are already used in high value fraud, such as fake CEO calls that push urgent transfers.

• Security awareness training is the ongoing education that teaches people how to spot these threats and react in a safe way, across email, web, SMS, and phone.

• A multi‑vector phishing simulation is a test campaign that hits employees on more than one channel, for example an email, followed by a text, then a vishing call that builds on the same story.

In 2026, the best security awareness platforms help you train across all three vectors with realistic phishing, smishing, and vishing simulations, not just email templates.

The New Social Engineering Reality In 2026

The scale of phishing, smishing, and vishing

First, the numbers are not on your side.

Studies estimate that about 3.4 billion phishing emails go out every day, around 1.2 percent of all global email traffic. Many organizations now see phishing attempts weekly or even daily, and phishing is still linked to a large share of data breaches.

Vishing is no longer a rare side channel. Recent reports show voice phishing incidents have grown by more than 400 percent in a few years, driven by AI voice cloning and hybrid email plus phone scams. Some analyses project that AI driven voice fraud could cause tens of billions of dollars in losses within a few years. One dataset shows that up to 70 percent of organizations have faced some kind of voice phishing attempt.

Mobile channels add another layer. A rising share of mobile phishing now arrives as smishing, and employees tend to react faster to text messages than to email. That mix of speed and trust makes smishing awareness training a critical part of any program.

How AI voice cloning changed vishing

In the past, a poor quality robocall was easy to ignore. Today, attackers can copy a real person’s voice from a few seconds of audio pulled from a panel talk, a podcast, or even a social media clip.

Modern vishing scams often follow a pattern:

1. A phishing email sets the story, such as “compliance review” or “vendor payment issue.”

2. A smishing message adds urgency with a short link or callback number.

3. A vishing call, often with a deepfake voice, closes the trap by asking for a code, password, or transfer.

Because the caller sounds like a real executive or partner, even trained staff can feel social pressure to comply. This is why vishing simulations and AI voice phishing simulation tools are moving from “nice to have” to “baseline.”

Why mobile and messaging attacks are so effective

Employees often treat their phones as personal space. Security habits that apply to work email, such as checking the sender domain, rarely carry over to messaging apps and SMS.

Smishing attacks use that gap. Common tricks include fake delivery notices, HR alerts, bank warnings, or tax refunds. Many link to clone sites that collect credentials or push malware, often hidden behind shortened URLs or QR codes.

These attacks work because:

• Text messages feel more urgent, so people act faster.

• The small screen makes it harder to spot suspicious links.

• People often mix personal and work accounts on the same device.

All of this means that security awareness can not live only in the inbox. Your program has to cover email, SMS, collaboration tools, and voice in one coherent way.

Why Multi‑Vector Security Awareness Training Is Growing

The market pivot to behavior and risk

The security awareness training market is growing fast. Analysts estimate it will reach about 6.74 billion dollars in 2026 and could more than double by 2031, with annual growth close to 17 percent. Software platforms are among the fastest growing segments, as more organizations move from manual campaigns to centralized consoles.

Several forces drive this growth:

• Regulations and cyber insurance now ask for proof of structured training, not ad hoc presentations.

• Boards want clear numbers that show changes in human risk, not just the number of people who took a quiz.

• Attackers use AI to scale their own operations, so template based, once a year phishing tests no longer keep up.

Modern platforms, including some of the best security awareness platforms in 2026, use multi‑vector simulations, OSINT based personalization, and GenAI scenarios to keep tests realistic and dynamic.

From compliance checklists to human risk management

Older programs treated security awareness as a compliance checkbox. People watched the same video each year, clicked through a quiz, then went back to normal habits.

That style of training is now widely seen as weak. In many breaches, the root cause is still a human action such as clicking a link, sharing a password, or wiring funds to a fake account. Some estimates suggest that human error plays a part in the large majority of incidents.

Newer platforms focus on human risk instead of just content delivery. They track:

• How often employees fall for simulated attacks.

• How often they report suspicious messages.

• Which teams or roles are at higher risk over time.

• How an individual’s digital footprint might invite targeted attacks.

Some tools, such as Brightside, even scan public data and data brokers to show employees their own exposure and guide them through reducing it, linking personal privacy to company security.

What To Look For In A Multi‑Vector Phishing Simulation Platform

For CISOs, IT directors, and security teams, choosing the right vishing simulation software or multi‑vector platform is not simple. Here are practical things to look at.

Channel coverage: phishing, smishing, and vishing together

At a minimum, a platform should support:

• Email phishing simulations with modern templates.

• Smishing simulations that send realistic SMS and messaging app lures.

• Vishing simulations with either scripted human callers or AI powered voice calls.

Vendors like Keepnet Labs, Brightside, Adaptive Security, Cofense, and Jericho Security now offer coordinated campaigns across all three channels. When you compare tools, map which channels each one truly supports in practice.

AI and voice deepfake capabilities

For vishing simulations to match real threats, calls need to feel natural, not like robotic warning messages. This is where AI voice phishing simulation features matter.

Advanced platforms use speech synthesis to:

• Clone generic business voices for "IT helpdesk" or "payments team."

• In some cases, mimic executive styles with strong consent and controls.b

• Vary tone, pacing, and script to avoid repetition.

Other tools integrate with third party voice services to create more flexible vishing scenarios. When you test vendors, listen to real sample calls. If they sound like an old robocall, employees will not take them seriously.

OSINT and personalization

Attackers rarely send completely random messages. They scrape LinkedIn, company sites, social media, and breach data to build targeted lures.

Some of the newer security awareness platforms mirror this behavior by pulling OSINT into simulations. Brightside and Adaptive Security, for example, scan exposed data and public sources, then use that insight to shape phishing, smishing, and vishing content.

When platforms support this style of personalization, your employee social engineering testing becomes much closer to real attacks, which makes the learning more durable.

Feedback, reporting, and risk scoring

A good platform does not just send tests, it closes the loop. Look for:

• Instant feedback pages when someone clicks, replies, or gives data.

• Short, focused micro‑lessons tied to the specific mistake.

• Clear dashboards that show click rates, reporting rates, and trends over time.

• Risk scores at user, team, and company levels that you can explain to non‑technical leaders.

Modern platforms emphasize behavioral analytics that help you identify patterns across your workforce and adjust training based on actual performance.

Leading Multi‑Vector Platforms In 2026

The platforms below represent the current leaders in comprehensive phishing, smishing, and vishing simulation capabilities. Each offers a different approach to multi‑channel testing.

Keepnet Labs: AI‑Powered Multi‑Vector Simulation Platform

Keepnet Labs positions itself as an AI‑native security awareness platform with comprehensive attack vector coverage. The platform includes:

• AI powered phishing simulators for email, SMS, and voice calls

• QR code phishing simulations, an increasingly common threat vector

• MFA phishing and callback phishing scenarios that test modern authentication bypass tactics

• Continuous behavioral assessment that identifies vulnerabilities across the workforce

• Real‑time threat intelligence integration that keeps simulations aligned with active campaigns

The platform uses AI to replicate real‑world attack patterns and continuously evaluates how employees respond to various social engineering tactics. This helps organizations proactively identify high risk users and tailor training interventions before incidents occur.

Best for: Organizations seeking an AI driven platform with comprehensive coverage across emerging attack vectors like quishing and MFA phishing, alongside traditional phishing, smishing, and vishing.

Brightside AI: OSINT‑Powered Vishing Simulations with GenAI Voice Cloning

Brightside focuses on AI era threats such as deepfake vishing and highly targeted spear phishing. The platform takes a different approach by combining simulation with exposure reduction:

• Uses OSINT scanning to find each employee's public exposure across six vulnerability categories: personal information, data leaks, online services, interests, social connections, and locations

• Runs phishing and vishing simulations that mirror real attacker reconnaissance, using data from that scan

• Offers a vishing module that uses GenAI voice models with a library of voices to simulate realistic phone scams, including multi‑step campaigns

• Gives each employee a personal portal to manage their own digital footprint and risk score

• Includes automated data broker removal to reduce the intelligence available to attackers before they even craft their attempts

This model works well for organizations that worry about executive impersonation, targeted fraud, and AI driven social engineering. The combination of testing people while also reducing their attack surface creates a more complete defense.

Best for: Organizations facing sophisticated spear‑phishing and executive impersonation threats, or those wanting to combine simulation training with proactive exposure reduction.

Adaptive Security: AI‑Native Multi‑Channel Simulation Platform

Adaptive Security built its platform specifically for the AI threat era, with focus on deepfake simulations across multiple channels. The platform features:

• Deepfake voice and video simulation capabilities that use AI generated content

• AI driven campaign personalization across email, SMS, and voice channels

• OSINT integration that scrapes public data to create targeted lures

• AI generated voice calls and voicemails using custom personas

• Behavioral change metrics that go beyond simple click rates

The platform emphasizes realistic AI powered scenarios that mirror the sophisticated attacks organizations actually face. Rather than relying on static templates, Adaptive Security uses machine learning to continuously improve simulation quality based on real threat patterns.

Best for: Companies prioritizing AI powered realism over template volume, especially those concerned about deepfake audio and video threats in their industry.

Jericho Security: GenAI‑Powered Hyper‑Realistic Simulations

Jericho Security leverages generative AI to create contextually relevant scenarios that adapt to each organization. The platform includes:

• Multi‑channel cybersecurity awareness training across email, SMS, and voice

• GenAI that creates contextually relevant scenarios automatically, reducing manual template management

• Agentic, conversational simulations that respond dynamically to user actions

• Emphasis on psychological realism in employee social engineering testing

The platform is notable for its work with sensitive organizations, including Department of Defense contracts, which speaks to its security and reliability standards. Jericho's approach focuses on making every simulation feel unique and relevant to the specific user's role and context.h

Best for: Organizations concerned about emerging AI enhanced threats and those requiring high security standards for their training infrastructure.

Cofense: Fully Managed Vishing Service and Multi‑Channel Simulations

Cofense blends software and professional services to deliver comprehensive testing. The platform offers:

• PhishMe platform for email phishing simulations with extensive template libraries

• Fully managed vishing campaigns where trained callers follow realistic scripts, using IVR technology combined with human expertise

• Smishing simulators that target mobile users and track responses

• Crowd‑sourced threat intelligence from employee reporting across their customer base

Cofense's managed vishing service stands out because it combines technology with professional social engineering experts who design and execute campaigns. This approach delivers highly realistic vishing tests without requiring your team to develop that expertise in house.

One important note: Cofense warns that smishing simulations can create legal and regulatory challenges if not handled carefully, particularly around personal device boundaries and consent. Their guidance on these issues makes them a safer choice for organizations worried about employee privacy concerns.

Best for: Organizations that want deeper vishing simulations but do not have the staff to design and run them in house, or those seeking managed services alongside software tools.

The Trust Debate: How To Test Without Undermining Your People

As more companies run employee social engineering testing, a serious question has emerged. Can phishing, smishing, and vishing simulations harm trust if they are handled badly?

What recent research says

Several academic and industry studies raise concerns about how simulations are designed.

• Research linked to European universities reports that deceptive simulations, especially when they feel unfair, can damage trust in leadership and HR.

• Some work presented at security conferences notes that strong punishment, surprise campaigns, and public naming can create backlash and disengagement.

• Other research suggests that some embedded training approaches might even create overconfidence, where employees think they are safer than they are because they learned to spot a narrow set of patterns.

There are also debates about smishing tests to personal phones. If you do not handle consent and privacy well, staff may feel that work is invading their personal life.

Principles for ethical simulations

You can gain the value of multi‑vector phishing simulation without turning staff against the program. Consider these principles.

1. Transparency:
   Tell employees that security awareness training will include phishing, smishing, and vishing simulations. You do not have to share details of each campaign, but people should know the general rules of the game.

2. Education first:
   Make the primary outcome of a test an immediate, clear lesson. A friendly landing page that explains what happened, why it was risky, and what to do next time goes a long way.

3. No public shaming:
   Avoid leaderboards that rank “worst clickers” or public scolding. Instead, offer extra support, short 1:1 refreshers, or focused micro‑lessons.

4. Careful with personal devices:
   For smishing awareness training, work with HR and legal to set rules on which numbers you will contact, when, and how to opt out.

5. Leaders go first:
   Make sure executives and managers also receive simulations. When leaders share their own slip ups, they show that learning is for everyone.

If you frame simulations as a safe way to learn from mistakes, not a trap, you strengthen both security and culture.

Practical Steps To Launch Or Upgrade A Multi‑Vector Program

If you are planning to expand from email only tests to full phishing, smishing, and vishing simulations, a simple roadmap helps.

Step 1: Map your current risk

Start with a clear picture of where you stand today.

• Review recent phishing, smishing, and vishing incidents, including near misses.

• Look at which departments handle money, access, or sensitive data.

• If you already run simulations, pull baseline metrics like click rate and report rate.

Some platforms, such as Brightside, can also give you a snapshot of employee exposure by scanning public sources and data brokers.

Step 2: Pilot multi‑vector scenarios

Pick a small group, for example one region or one department, and run a short pilot:

• Start with a simple multi‑step scenario, such as an email from “IT,” followed by a text, then a vishing call.

• Track how many people fall for each step, and how many report it.

• Collect feedback on how the test felt and what people learned.

This pilot will surface both technical issues and cultural reactions before you scale across the company.

Step 3: Tune policies and communication

Work with HR, legal, and communications to:

• Decide how you will handle personal devices and off hours contact.

• Draft a short policy that explains the purpose of simulations and how data is used.

• Plan internal messages that frame training as investment in employee safety, not surveillance.

Clear guardrails make it easier to adopt stronger tools such as AI voice phishing simulation or deepfake vishing scenarios.

Step 4: Scale and refine

As you roll out to the wider organization:

• Use adaptive difficulty so that more skilled users face harder tests, while newer or high risk users see clearer examples.

• Rotate themes across business topics, such as payroll, vendors, travel, and benefits, to avoid pattern fatigue.

• Combine regular phishing simulations with periodic smishing and vishing simulations so people expect threats on all channels.

Over time, your data will show which vectors and scenarios cause the most trouble, and you can adjust focus there.

How To Measure Success In Security Awareness Training

To prove value and improve over time, you need solid metrics.

Behavior and risk metrics

Useful indicators include:

• Click rate for phishing and smishing tests.

• Data submission rate, for example how often people enter passwords on fake pages.

• Reporting rate, the share of users who flag simulated or real threats.

• Vishing response rate, such as how often staff share codes or sensitive information on calls.

Platforms that provide risk scores help you see if those numbers are moving in the right direction across months and quarters. Some also track digital footprint reduction, such as how many exposed records or leaked credentials employees clean up with the platform’s guidance.

Turning results into board‑level stories

Executives care about risk and money. To speak their language, relate your training metrics to:

• Reduced likelihood of wire fraud or account takeover in high risk areas

• Lower expected loss per incident as employees report faster.

• Compliance readiness, such as evidence of regular, documented awareness activities.

Some security awareness vendors now include templates for board reports that turn simulation data and incident trends into simple charts and headlines. Using those, you can show that multi‑vector phishing simulation is not just training, it is a control that reduces real exposure.