dPhish - Security Awareness Solution

Software Maturity Assessment Report

Introduction

Cyber Security Consulting and Maturity Assessment Process

At Cyshield, we specialize in cybersecurity consulting, helping organizations navigate the complexities of the digital landscape. We are preparing a detailed report on dPhish’s solutions, thoroughly evaluating their performance in today’s evolving cybersecurity environment. Combining our expertise and data-driven approach, we aim to deliver an objective assessment, equipping businesses with actionable insights to strengthen their security strategies and confidently address modern threats.

Product and Company Overview

dPhish is a cybersecurity company founded in 2023 in Cairo, Egypt, with subsequent expansion into the United States and Saudi Arabia. It offers an all-in-one anti-phishing platform that centralizes phishing simulation, awareness training, phishing detection and response, and email gateway assessment. dPhish is supported by the MISK Foundation, funded by Flat6Labs in 2024, and was recognized as the Best Cybersecurity Startup in Saudi Arabia at Black Hat 2023.

Executive Summary

dPhish is an effective cybersecurity solution designed to enhance employee awareness and strengthen email security within organizations. It offers phishing attacks to test user security awareness, emulation capabilities to assess the effectiveness of email security controls, and monitors employee email accounts for potential password leaks. Key features include phishing campaign simulations, emulation-based testing that sends real attack emails at intervals to evaluate email security controls, email reporting, detection, and response, a customizable learning management system (LMS), and real-time dashboard insights.  dPhish excels in fostering a security-conscious culture and significantly reducing phishing risks. While there are opportunities for further improvement in dashboard customization and interactivity, the platform remains an invaluable tool. Although it doesn't function as a real-time email security gateway, dPhish is highly effective in helping businesses build resilience against phishing threats through its comprehensive training and monitoring capabilities.

Key Features [RE1] 

Key Modules

Cost Effectiveness

dPhish offers a cost-effective solution that minimizes upfront infrastructure investments while maximizing value for organizations. The platform consolidates multiple modules into an intuitive, all-in-one dashboard, reducing the need for separate tools and streamlining operations. Flexible payment options, including acceptance of local currencies, make the platform accessible and convenient for organizations across different regions.

Capabilities and Benefits

dPhish is tailored to meet the specific needs of organizations, with flexible features that enhance its value. The platform enables filtering email templates based on factors such as user location, events, or cultural relevance, ensuring phishing simulations are more aligned with the target audience. It offers extensive content in multiple languages and dialects, catering to a diverse range of regions and customer needs. The inclusion of Arabic-speaking customer support adds significant value for organizations in the Arab market, facilitating smoother communication. Additionally, dPhish provides valuable cybersecurity-related tips that are sent out weekly, with a wide range of tips prepared in advance, further strengthening the platform’s support in enhancing organizational security awareness.

dPhish supports carrying out emulations using a diverse array of ready-made payloads to simulate real attack scenarios and rigorously test the effectiveness of organizational email security controls under realistic conditions. These emulations are fully executed end-to-end, and the platform allows users to track the status of each email, with the option to manually confirm receipt by clicking the "Mark as Delivered" button, ensuring accurate reporting and validation. dPhish offers professionally designed emulation attack types that replicate real-world threat vectors across multiple stages of the attack lifecycle. These include malicious scripting, obfuscated file delivery such as HTML smuggling, domain spoofing through Punycode, credential harvesting techniques, and code execution attacks. The attacks also cover known CVE-based vulnerabilities, suspicious file extensions, and malware embedded in password-protected archives or shortcut files. To provide an extensive evaluation, dPhish also incorporates advanced post-exploitation tactics such as persistence mechanisms, defense evasion, command and control, email exfiltration, and NTLM hash leaks, enabling organizations to evaluate their detection and response capabilities across a wide range of threat scenarios.[RE2] 

Compliance

Based on the information provided by dPhish, the company has implemented advanced security controls and is working towards achieving full compliance. While no certifications have been obtained yet, dPhish is addressing security gaps following multiple third-party risk assessments conducted in KSA to align with governmental and financial sector requirements.

Risk Assessment and Mitigation Plan

dPhish faces a few challenges, including the absence of real-time email security detection, potential compliance issues, and the risk of misclassifying emails. Without real-time detection, the platform focuses on detection, training, and awareness, but doesn’t provide immediate protection against active phishing threats. Additionally, handling sensitive employee data could raise concerns if compliance with data protection regulations isn’t fully ensured. Misclassification of emails, such as a safe email being categorized as medium severity instead of clean, could also undermine user trust and lead to inefficiencies. To address these, dPhish is planning on adding real-time detection features and continuing to work on closing any compliance gaps through regular reviews and updates. For email misclassification, implementing more advanced machine learning algorithms and regular model training using diverse datasets could significantly reduce errors. By tackling these issues, dPhish can strengthen its offering and provide even greater value to its users.

Pricing Plans

dPhish offers multiple plans tailored to diverse cybersecurity needs, including annual Subscription-based and MSSP plans which are priced based on user count. The subscription plans are divided into three tiers:

1.          Essential: Includes Phishing Simulation, Security Awareness, Policy Management, and Ticketing.

2.         Advantage: Builds on the Essential plan by adding Advanced Phishing Detection & Response.

3.          Complete: Provides all features from the Advantage plan, along with Email Gateway Security Assessment and Dark Web Monitoring for comprehensive protection.

Deployment Timeline *

Comprehensive Analysis

Product Evaluation

The overall rating for the evaluated features is 3.75, reflecting a strong performance with potential for further refinement. Below is a detailed breakdown of the ratings for each feature.[RE3] 

Conclusion

Sustainability

dPhish shows its commitment to sustainability by regularly updating its platform to keep up with changing cybersecurity threats. With frequent updates and new features, dPhish ensures its phishing simulations and training tools stay effective. The platform leverages detailed data and insightful reports to enable organizations to continuously refine their security posture. By offering flexible subscription plans, dPhish supports long-term, cost-effective cybersecurity for businesses of all sizes, helping create a more secure and sustainable environment.

Overall Assessment

 Highly Recommended with Room for Growth: Overall, dPhish is a powerful tool for managing phishing risks and enhancing cybersecurity awareness. It has great potential to become even more effective through continuous improvements in functionality, accuracy, and user experience.

Target Audience

The target audience for dPhish includes businesses of all sizes, especially those seeking to strengthen their cybersecurity defenses against phishing attacks. It is ideal for organizations focused on training and awareness initiatives rather than immediate email security. It is designed for IT and security teams responsible for email security, as well as HR and training departments focused on enhancing employee security awareness. Additionally, it caters to organizations needing to monitor dark web activity for compromised credentials, ensuring protection.

dPhish can benefit a wide range of sectors and businesses, including:

Recommended Next Steps

Due Diligence: Conduct a thorough review of dPhish’s solutions, including technical capabilities, compliance with security standards, and customer feedback, to validate its suitability for organizational needs.

Contract Negotiation: Initiate discussions with dPhish to finalize terms and conditions, ensuring alignment on pricing, support, and service-level agreements.

Implementation Plan: Collaborate with dPhish to develop a detailed implementation plan, outlining timelines, resource requirements, and milestones for a seamless deployment.

Inquiries and Contact Information

For any questions, clarifications, or further discussion regarding the contents of this Software Maturity Assessment Report or if you're interested in the vendor assessment service please contact: digital@cyshield.com

 [RE1]Added Emulation card as one of the key features

 [RE2]Added Emulation description and the attack types offered by dPhish.

 [RE3]Email gateway assessment is included in the Functionality in the table.