Summary
In 2016, a Fortune 500 manufacturing company sought to establish a robust email security program to protect its global operations. The challenge required a strategic partner capable of fostering a culture of cybersecurity while achieving program maturity. Partnering with Cofense, the company implemented the PhishMe Security Awareness Training (SAT) and Phishing Detection and Response (PDR) platforms. This collaboration led to a customized, authentic, and effective email security program, dramatically increasing employee engagement and delivering measurable results.
Introduction
Operating in diverse markets worldwide, this client is a leader in its industry with a reputation for excellence. However, as cyber threats grow in volume and sophistication, market leaders face the challenge of ensuring responsive and effective email security. Recognizing the need for a robust solution, the company sought a partner that could enable them to create a reliable, efficient email security program—and Cofense was the ideal partner.
At their request, this customer has been anonymized for security reasons.
The Challenge
Email is the #1 security threat worldwide, making it critical for businesses to prioritize investment in email security to avoid breaches. This client was looking to do just that and began the search for a partner to help them implement a strategic and comprehensive approach to email security.
The challenge was multifaceted:
- Enhance Security Awareness: Build a program that engages employees meaningfully to make them active participants in the company's cybersecurity efforts.
- Scale Across a Large, Global Workforce: Ensure consistent training, threat simulation, and responsiveness for employees across regions and departments.
- Customize Engagement: Deliver content that resonates authentically with employees, fostering higher levels of adoption and cybersecurity awareness.
- Reduce the Strain on Overburdened Security Teams: Identify, remediate, and respond to phishing threats with efficiency and speed.
The company needed a partner that would offer more than generic solutions, one capable of collaborating closely with their internal teams to address their unique challenges with a customized approach.
The Solution
Enter Cofense. Through a carefully implemented partnership, Cofense provides the company with two critical solutions:
With monthly training programs that feature realistic phishing simulations tested across diverse audiences, this platform is a natural solution for the client. Employees are enrolled in the PhishMe SAT program, which includes targeted educational simulations to reinforce key learnings. The program creates consistent touchpoints, guaranteeing that cybersecurity remains top-of-mind throughout the organization.
The client appreciates the thoroughness of the program, noting how its simulations ensure they are compliant. The company’s Information Security Awareness Lead emphasized that PhishMe SAT offers diverse training touchpoints for employees, enhancing engagement and retention. They also explained that the program’s simulation testing and repeat susceptibility training are significant assets, particularly when reviewed by auditors.
The Cofense PDR platform enhances the company’s email threat detection and response capabilities, fostering an integrated approach where security awareness training works seamlessly with operational security measures. By handling reported emails quickly and responding swiftly to the reporting individual, the Cofense PDR Platform validates the importance of every employee's role in securing the organization.
This approach, as our client testified, "reinforces reporting culture and validates to our teams that their actions help secure our organization."
The partnership goes beyond tools and software—Cofense serves as a true collaborator in the company’s security program. Their teams work side-by-side, exchanging ideas to mature the program even further. To further enhance their security protocol, the client identifies the top-reported phishing attempt each month and uses it in a simulation, allowing employees to learn from real threats that bypass their perimeter defenses.
The client summarized the synergy between Cofense SAT and PDR by saying,
“Awareness and training + security operations = a perfect union. It’s a good way to work.”
The Impact
Through its close ongoing partnership with Cofense, this client is able to achieve remarkable results, transforming its cybersecurity culture and boosting overall program effectiveness. When asked what they would worry about without Cofense, the client was most concerned with the continuous training and threat monitoring that Cofense provides.
“Through working with Cofense, I’m guaranteed to always be in my employees' inboxes, to always bring them educational programming, as well as testing of true threats. ”
Beyond the comfort of consistency, the client also emphasized that without Cofense, replicating the same program at this level of quality would be next to impossible. In 2024, Cofense identified 20,000 real email threats that bypassed traditional perimeter security in this client’s environment. These threats included thousands of business email compromise (BEC) and credential phishing attacks. The removal of these threats had an even broader impact. As the client noted, “This allowed for us to remove thousands more unreported malicious emails from our environment as well.”
A Fully Customized Cybersecurity Program
The program is tailored to the needs of employees, ensuring that content delivers real value. Employees recognize this authenticity, helping them internalize lessons and adopt cybersecurity practices both at work and in their personal lives. Training sessions’ settings, style, and messaging align perfectly with the company’s unique requirements.
"The authenticity makes it so that they feel as though there is value in what we are doing. It’s not just part of their workday—they get something of value that they can bring home, as well,” shared the Information Security Awareness Lead.
Furthermore, the speed with which Cofense PDR can identify and remediate email security threats allows the organization’s internal security team to respond faster and focus on real emerging phishing threats.
The client stated: “The big win here is the timeliness of evaluating and responding to potential phishing emails. In January 2025, the average response time was 6.78 minutes. Time matters and Cofense PDR saves us a lot of time.”
Enhanced Reporting Culture
Regular, continuous engagement ensures employees consistently interact with cybersecurity learning opportunities. Through testing, training, and refined educational materials, Cofense has empowered employees to respond effectively to real email threats. This active role in the company’s cybersecurity efforts equips employees to serve as the first line of defense.
“Cofense handles the reported emails fast and gets a response out to the person who reported it quickly, in most cases within a few minutes. This reinforces reporting culture and validates to our teams that their actions help secure our organization.”
Long-Lasting Collaborations
The partnership between Cofense and the company has flourished for nine years—and especially in the past three years, the program has scaled and matured to new heights. The client credits Cofense’s collaborative spirit, saying,
“It’s like having a copilot. It’s a really collaborative effort ... and because of this, the program has gotten very meaningful, very customized, and very authentic to my users.
Compliance Made Easy
The modular and comprehensive design of the program addresses various compliance needs seamlessly. When undergoing compliance audits, the client confidently presents their well-rounded and consistent training and testing structure.
“We train every month with Cofense, and when I am audited for my program, that is something that I can point out.” they stated. “We have touchpoints for everyone in the organization, and our compliance auditors love that about the program.”
Conclusion
The partnership between Cofense and this Fortune 500 manufacturing company has consistently demonstrated the power of collaboration when it comes to email security. By enabling the company to deliver tailored training, reduce security team workload, and meet compliance standards, Cofense has become an integral part of their cybersecurity strategy.
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