Advait251206/Phishing-Awareness-Simulator

🌐 Phishing Awareness Simulation Platform

🎓 Academic Project Overview

• Institution: Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Ramdeobaba University, Nagpur
• Author: Advait Kawale
• Academic Level: 2nd Year CSE
• Purpose: Controlled Educational Demonstration & Security Awareness Training

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🎯 Educational Mission & Focus

This project is a controlled security awareness simulation utility built as an academic study on the human factors of cybersecurity. Security awareness simulations are critical in educating non-technical users about social engineering tactics, transforming abstract theoretical threats into observable, hands-on learning experiences.

The primary objective is to demonstrate human vulnerability points in cybersecurity and train users to look for key visual and technical indicators of credential-harvesting attacks (e.g., domain mismatches, lack of secure indicators, and psychological urgency triggers).

[!WARNING]

LEGAL AND ETHICAL DISCLAIMER

This software is strictly intended for authorized educational simulations, local testing, and academic grading purposes.

It must never* be deployed in uncontrolled settings or used against real users without their explicit, prior written consent.

The author and developers assume no liability* for misuse, unauthorized installations, or damage resulting from the deployment of this tool outside of authorized academic and corporate training boundaries.

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💡 How Phishing Awareness Simulators Work

A standard phishing simulation mirrors real-world social engineering attack vectors to assess user vulnerability. In a controlled training scenario, the lifecycle follows a structured loop:

graph TD
    classDef default fill:#1E1E2E,stroke:#89B4FA,stroke-width:2px,color:#CDD6F4;
    classDef target fill:#313244,stroke:#F38BA8,stroke-width:1px,color:#F38BA8;
    classDef process fill:#1E1E2E,stroke:#A6E3A1,stroke-width:2px,color:#A6E3A1;

    A[1. Trainer configures Campaign] --> B(2. Safe Simulation Email Sent)
    B --> C{3. Recipient clicks Link?}
    C -- No --> D[Recipient is Safe / Training Passed]
    C -- Yes --> E(4. Redirected to Simulated Login Page)
    E --> F{5. Enters mock data?}
    F -- No --> G[Safe Redirect / Awareness Alerted]
    F -- Yes --> H(6. Simulated Log Captured & User Safely Warned)

    class C,F target;
    class A,B,E,H process;

1. Campaign Configuration: An administrator sets up a simulated campaign containing custom mock emails and safe templates.
2. Delivery Stage: The simulated message is routed to designated test inboxes (using sandboxed environments like Mailtrap).
3. Observation: If the test subject opens the link, they land on a localized mock landing page.
4. Redirection & Remediation: The platform safely catches the interaction, alerts the user that this was a test, and redirects them to the official resource alongside micro-learning modules explaining what indicators they missed.

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🛠️ Technology Stack

• Core Framework: Laravel 10.x (Expressive PHP MVC engine for secure routing and session handling)
• Frontend styling: Tailwind CSS & Blade Templates (Creating visual representations of common interfaces)
• Database engine: MySQL / SQLite (Campaign metric storage, event logs, and training telemetry)
• Testing Sandbox: Laravel Mailer integrated with Mailtrap or local SMTP servers

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🏗️ Core System Structure

• Campaign Management: Full CRUD interface allowing administrators to create, schedule, and edit simulation runs.
• Telemetry Dashboard: Aggregates overall campaign results, tracking click-through rates and completion times for academic data collection.
• Redirection Pipeline: Safe and automatic route forwarding that intercepts active tests and redirects users to security awareness advice pages.

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🚀 Local Installation & Deployment

To run this project locally in a sandboxed, loopback testing environment:

Prerequisites:

• PHP $\ge 8.1$
• Composer
• Node.js & NPM
• Local database server (e.g., MySQL, SQLite)

Installation Steps:

1. Navigate to the Project Root:

   cd PhishingSim

1. Install Composer Dependencies:

   composer install

1. Install and Build Frontend Assets:

   npm install
   npm run build

1. Environment Configuration:

Copy the example environment configuration file:

   cp .env.example .env

Generate your application encryption key:

   php artisan key:generate

Edit the `.env` file to configure your local database connection and local sandboxed SMTP settings (e.g., Mailtrap).

1. Run Migrations & Seed Database:

   php artisan migrate

1. Start Local Development Server:

   php artisan serve

Open [http://127.0.0.1:8000](http://127.0.0.1:8000) in your web browser to access the administrator dashboard.