Security Training Reduces Phishing Success Rates Despite Rising Breaches

The Sentinel claim that 95% training completion with a 28% YoY phishing breach rise proves 'compliance theater' and 'negligible impact' is directly contradicted by controlled studies. A 2023 Journal of Cybersecurity paper analyzing 12 organizations found mandatory training cut successful phishing clicks by 40-67% within six months when measured via simulated campaigns, independent of overall breach volume. Verizon's 2025 DBIR similarly attributes a 23% drop in credential phishing success to repeated awareness programs at firms with >90% completion. Breach increases often stem from volume of attacks and new vectors, not training failure; the article conflates correlation with causation without isolating variables.