GoPhish
A hands-on guide to one of the most effective tools for phishing simulations and awareness training.
GoPhish is a powerful, open-source phishing framework designed for security professionals to test and improve their organization’s phishing defenses. Developed with ease of use and customization in mind, GoPhish helps blue teams, red teams, and security awareness officers simulate real-world phishing attacks in a controlled environment.
Phishing remains one of the top initial attack vectors in cyber incidents. With GoPhish, teams can proactively measure how susceptible employees are to social engineering tactics, and take meaningful steps to reduce that risk.
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What GoPhish Does
GoPhish allows security teams to launch mock phishing campaigns that mimic real attack techniques. It lets users craft emails, build landing pages, track user interaction, and generate detailed reports on engagement, such as who opened the email, clicked the link, or submitted credentials.
By identifying which users fall for simulated attacks, organizations can tailor training and awareness programs to strengthen human defenses.
Key Features of GoPhish
Easy Setup and Deployment
Written in Go, the tool is cross-platform and deploys quickly without complicated dependencies.
Web-Based UI
Offers a clean and intuitive dashboard to create campaigns, manage users, and view results in real time.
Email and Landing Page Templates
Allows users to craft realistic phishing emails and clone login pages to match well-known services like Google, Microsoft 365, or internal portals.
User and Group Management
Import CSVs or manually add targets and segment them into groups for targeted testing.
Detailed Reporting and Analytics
Track metrics such as open rates, click rates, data submission, and more. Export reports for management and compliance purposes.
REST API Support
Enable integration with other tools or automate campaign creation and data retrieval.
Customization Options
Supports custom tracking URLs, landing page redirects, and multi-campaign testing.
Advanced Use Cases
Security Awareness Training: Identify risky user behavior and deliver targeted education to improve resilience.
Red Team Operations: Simulate phishing as part of larger attack chains to test organizational response.
Threat Emulation: Reproduce current phishing campaigns in the wild to see how employees would respond.
Incident Response Drills: Use GoPhish in tabletop exercises to evaluate how SOC and IT teams react to phishing-based intrusions.
Pre-Assessment for Security Audits: Measure user awareness levels as part of overall organizational risk profiling.
Latest Updates
GoPhish continues to evolve with community contributions and updates, including:
Enhanced support for modern email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
TLS/SSL support for landing pages
Improved logging and debugging features
Compatibility with cloud email services and internal mail relays
Bug fixes and stability improvements across platforms
Why It Matters
GoPhish fills a critical gap in cybersecurity: testing the human element. While firewalls and endpoint detection tools can stop malware, no software can patch human error. GoPhish empowers organizations to confront that challenge head-on, before real attackers do.
Its open-source model also makes it accessible to small businesses, educational institutions, and security enthusiasts looking to understand and mitigate phishing threats in their environments.
Requirements and Platform Support
GoPhish supports:
Windows
Linux
macOS
It requires:
Basic system with GoPhish installed
SMTP configuration (for sending emails)
Administrative privileges for deployment
GoPhish can run on local servers or cloud infrastructure, and requires no external database, everything is self-contained.