---
title: "Why Most Phishing Prevention Advice Falls Short | DuoCircle"
description: "Phishing attacks are everywhere, and so is advice for how to prevent them. None of the advice offered is wrong, it’s just woefully incomplete."
image: "https://www.duocircle.com/images/og-default.png"
canonical: "https://www.duocircle.com/blog/phishing-protection/why-most-phishing-prevention-advice-falls-short/"
---

Quick Answer

Most phishing prevention advice tells people to be more careful: train users, watch the bank, double-check sender addresses, set BEC contingency plans, build manual controls. The advice is not wrong, but it is incomplete because it puts the entire defense on humans. If awareness alone could stop phishing, BEC would not still dominate the FBI IC3 report. The missing layer is cloud-based email security with real-time link click protection: messages are rerouted through a filtering service that scans content and follows links to their final destination before delivery, so phishing mail never lands in the inbox. Awareness training plus a filtering layer with click-time URL inspection covers both the human and the technical attack surface, which is what serious phishing prevention requires.

Share 

[ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fwhy-most-phishing-prevention-advice-falls-short%2F "Share on LinkedIn") [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Why%20Most%20Phishing%20Prevention%20Advice%20Falls%20Short&url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fwhy-most-phishing-prevention-advice-falls-short%2F "Share on X/Twitter") [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fwhy-most-phishing-prevention-advice-falls-short%2F "Share on Facebook") [ ](https://reddit.com/submit?url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fwhy-most-phishing-prevention-advice-falls-short%2F&title=Why%20Most%20Phishing%20Prevention%20Advice%20Falls%20Short "Share on Reddit") [ ](mailto:?subject=Why%20Most%20Phishing%20Prevention%20Advice%20Falls%20Short&body=Check out this article: undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fwhy-most-phishing-prevention-advice-falls-short%2F "Share via Email") 

![Phishing Protection](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2019/06/SPF-record-checker-6381.jpg) 

_Phishing attacks are everywhere, and so is advice for how to prevent them._ None of the advice offered is wrong, it’s just woefully incomplete.

A recent article on the Security Week website, [Business Email Compromise Still Reigns](https://www.securityweek.com/business-email-compromise-still-reigns), discusses the FBI’s annual [Internet Crime Complaints Center (IC3) report](https://www.ic3.gov/media/annualreport/2018%5FIC3Report.pdf) and why business email compromise (BEC), a type a phishing attack, is so prevalent.

The article then goes on to offer advice on ways to mitigate BEC attacks. It includes the following:

- Update security awareness training
- Develop BEC contingency plans
- Build in manual controls
- Monitor for exposed credentials
- Conduct ongoing assessments
- Set limits for third parties

[![Phishing ](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2019/06/spf-record-6384.jpg)](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2019/06/spf-record-6384.jpg)

Notice anything missing?

Another article on the PC Buyer’s Guide website, Most Common Phishing Scams and What You Can Do to Avoid Them, also offers some suggestions. These include “make sure to double check emails from your bank” and be cautious when “posting personal information and updates on social media.”

## Figured out what’s missing yet?

All this advice offered by these well-meaning resources depends on one thing: people. People need to be more aware, people need to be more cautious, people need to be better trained, people need better procedures.

There’s just one problem with this line of thinking. If people could [prevent phishing](/email/phishing-protection) attacks, phishing attacks would have ceased long ago. But they haven’t. Instead, [they continue to grow](https://www.farsightsecurity.com/txt-record/2019/03/25/burke-phishing/). Perhaps it’s time to find some new advice.

So, what is missing from the list? How about cloud-based email security with real-time link click protection.

The best way to prevent BEC and every other form of phishing is to keep the threatening email out of your inbox in the first place. **Cloud-based email security** reroutes emails, destined for your inbox, to their premises where it scans each email for malicious content and links, before sending it on to you. Detected phishing emails are blocked or quarantined.

Why do these advice articles not include this information? This technology is readily available, fast to deploy and inexpensive.

Want some better **phishing prevention** advice? Head on over to cloud-based [email security](/) with real-time link click protection risk-free for 30 days.

![Brad Slavin](https://media.mailhop.org/dmarcreport/images/team/brad-slavin.jpg) 

Brad Slavin 

General Manager

General Manager at DuoCircle. Product strategy and commercial lead across the email security portfolio.

## Secure your email infrastructure

Protect, authenticate, and deliver. Contact our team to find the right solution.

[Contact Sales](/contact/) [Explore Products](/products/) 

## Related Articles

[  Phishing 11m  AI-Generated Phishing Has Eliminated the Typo: Why Traditional Email Filters Are No Longer Enough  Apr 28, 2026 ](/blog/ai-generated-phishing-eliminates-typos-making-traditional-email-filters-ineffective/)[  Phishing 5m  10 Applications of ChatGPT that Hackers Are Already Exploiting  May 3, 2023 ](/blog/phishing-protection/10-applications-of-chatgpt-that-hackers-are-already-exploiting/)[  Phishing 4m  65% of Global Businesses Ill-Equipped to Defend Against Email-Based Cyber-Attacks  Mar 29, 2016 ](/blog/phishing-protection/65-global-businesses-ill-equipped-defend-email-based-cyber-attacks/)[  Phishing 9m  7 Ways to Protect Your Organization from Email-based Ransomware Attacks  Feb 11, 2018 ](/blog/phishing-protection/7-ways-protect-organization-email-based-ransomware-attacks/)

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/images/duocircle-logo.png"},"description":"DuoCircle is a portfolio of specialized email products covering protection, authentication, delivery, and routing. We deliver about 90% of category-leader capability at roughly half the price, backed by experts who own the outcome. Trusted by 50,000+ organizations since 2014.","subOrganization":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138898167","name":"DMARC Report","url":"https://dmarcreport.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897474","name":"AutoSPF","url":"https://autospf.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897912","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://www.phishprotection.com"}],"sameAs":["https://www.linkedin.com/company/duocircle","https://x.com/duocirclellc","https://www.facebook.com/duocirclellc","https://www.g2.com/products/phish-protection-by-duocircle/reviews","https://github.com/duocircle","https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/duocircle-llc"],"contactPoint":{"@type":"ContactPoint","contactType":"customer support","url":"https://support.duocircle.com"},"knowsAbout":["Email Security","Email Authentication","SPF","DKIM","DMARC","Phishing Protection","Spam Filtering","SMTP Relay","Email Deliverability","Email Forwarding"]}
```

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebSite","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","description":"DuoCircle is a portfolio of specialized email products covering protection, authentication, delivery, and routing. We deliver about 90% of category-leader capability at roughly half the price, backed by experts who own the outcome. Trusted by 50,000+ organizations since 2014.","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/images/duocircle-logo.png"},"description":"DuoCircle is a portfolio of specialized email products covering protection, authentication, delivery, and routing. We deliver about 90% of category-leader capability at roughly half the price, backed by experts who own the outcome. Trusted by 50,000+ organizations since 2014.","subOrganization":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138898167","name":"DMARC Report","url":"https://dmarcreport.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897474","name":"AutoSPF","url":"https://autospf.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897912","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://www.phishprotection.com"}]}}
```

```json
[{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BlogPosting","headline":"Why Most Phishing Prevention Advice Falls Short","description":"Phishing attacks are everywhere, and so is advice for how to prevent them. None of the advice offered is wrong, it’s just woefully incomplete.","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/blog/phishing-protection/why-most-phishing-prevention-advice-falls-short/","datePublished":"2019-06-06T18:34:34.000Z","dateModified":"2025-05-23T17:22:47.000Z","dateCreated":"2019-06-06T18:34:34.000Z","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://www.duocircle.com/authors/brad-slavin/#person","name":"Brad Slavin","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/authors/brad-slavin/","jobTitle":"General Manager","description":"Brad Slavin runs DuoCircle, the company behind DMARC Report, AutoSPF, Phish Protection, and Mailhop. His focus is product strategy, customer relationships, and the commercial and compliance side of email authentication (DPAs, SLAs, enterprise procurement).","image":"https://media.mailhop.org/dmarcreport/images/team/brad-slavin.jpg","knowsAbout":["Email Security Strategy","SaaS Product Management","Enterprise Compliance","Customer Success","Email Deliverability Business"],"worksFor":{"@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com"},"sameAs":["https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradslavin"]},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/images/duocircle-logo.png"},"description":"DuoCircle is a portfolio of specialized email products covering protection, authentication, delivery, and routing. We deliver about 90% of category-leader capability at roughly half the price, backed by experts who own the outcome. Trusted by 50,000+ organizations since 2014.","subOrganization":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138898167","name":"DMARC Report","url":"https://dmarcreport.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897474","name":"AutoSPF","url":"https://autospf.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897912","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://www.phishprotection.com"}]},"mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.duocircle.com/blog/phishing-protection/why-most-phishing-prevention-advice-falls-short/"},"articleSection":"phishing-protection","keywords":"","wordCount":348,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2019/06/SPF-record-checker-6381.jpg","caption":"Phishing Protection","width":900,"height":600},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".answer-block","h1"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https://www.duocircle.com/blog/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Phishing"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Why Most Phishing Prevention Advice Falls Short","item":"https://www.duocircle.com/blog/phishing-protection/why-most-phishing-prevention-advice-falls-short/"}]}]
```

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://www.duocircle.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Blog","item":"https://www.duocircle.com/blog/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Phishing","item":"https://www.duocircle.comundefined"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Why Most Phishing Prevention Advice Falls Short","item":"https://www.duocircle.com/blog/phishing-protection/why-most-phishing-prevention-advice-falls-short/"}]}
```

```json
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BlogPosting","headline":"Why Most Phishing Prevention Advice Falls Short","description":"Phishing attacks are everywhere, and so is advice for how to prevent them. None of the advice offered is wrong, it’s just woefully incomplete.","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/blog/phishing-protection/why-most-phishing-prevention-advice-falls-short/","datePublished":"2019-06-06T18:34:34.000Z","dateModified":"2025-05-23T17:22:47.000Z","dateCreated":"2019-06-06T18:34:34.000Z","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://www.duocircle.com/authors/brad-slavin/#person","name":"Brad Slavin","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/authors/brad-slavin/","jobTitle":"General Manager","description":"Brad Slavin runs DuoCircle, the company behind DMARC Report, AutoSPF, Phish Protection, and Mailhop. His focus is product strategy, customer relationships, and the commercial and compliance side of email authentication (DPAs, SLAs, enterprise procurement).","image":"https://media.mailhop.org/dmarcreport/images/team/brad-slavin.jpg","knowsAbout":["Email Security Strategy","SaaS Product Management","Enterprise Compliance","Customer Success","Email Deliverability Business"],"worksFor":{"@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com"},"sameAs":["https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradslavin"]},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/images/duocircle-logo.png"},"description":"DuoCircle is a portfolio of specialized email products covering protection, authentication, delivery, and routing. We deliver about 90% of category-leader capability at roughly half the price, backed by experts who own the outcome. Trusted by 50,000+ organizations since 2014.","subOrganization":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138898167","name":"DMARC Report","url":"https://dmarcreport.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897474","name":"AutoSPF","url":"https://autospf.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897912","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://www.phishprotection.com"}]},"mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.duocircle.com/blog/phishing-protection/why-most-phishing-prevention-advice-falls-short/"},"articleSection":"phishing-protection","keywords":"","wordCount":348,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2019/06/SPF-record-checker-6381.jpg","caption":"Phishing Protection","width":900,"height":600},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".answer-block","h1"]}}
```