National Cyber Drill Shows 24% Fall for Phishing as Security Week Opens
Around 30,000 people participated in Israel's national phishing drill, with 24% clicking malicious links. The exercise launched Cyber Security Week alongside Tel Aviv screen simulations.
Nearly 30,000 individuals participated in a national cyber drill on Tuesday, with approximately 24% of participants falling for a simulated phishing attack, according to the Israel National Cyber Directorate (INCD). The exercise marked the launch of National Cyber Security Week, running through November 12 under the slogan "Protection in the Palm of Your Hand," alongside simulated screen takeovers in Tel Aviv, app alerts, and the launch of a new national cyber portal.
The simulation involved sending out some 29,000 emails and text messages mimicking corporate notices. Employees across 49 organizations nationwide received messages falsely claiming that their meal subsidies would be blocked at 14:00 unless they updated their payment methods via an attached unofficial link. Those who clicked were redirected to an INCD landing page revealing the exercise and offering cybersecurity awareness tips.
The click-through rate of 24% exceeded figures from previous national drills. In 2025, a drill involving approximately 200,000 IDF service members yielded a 12% click rate, while a 2024 exercise among 40,000 public sector employees recorded 20%. Concurrently, morning simulations on prominent Tel Aviv digital screens and popular apps displayed "Hacked" warnings to demonstrate the potential disruption of cyber attacks on daily routines.
The newly launched national cyber portal aims to equip organizations and the public with practical defense tools. These include "Click Check" for scanning suspicious links, incident and ransomware reporting channels, cyber simulation exercises, and an interactive game designed to train users in identifying sophisticated phishing attempts.
