Navigating the Phishing Landscape: A Novel Stage Model Unveiling the Journey of Individuals Exposed to Phishing Attempts

The focus of this master thesis is to understand the process and stages individuals go through when exposed to a phishing attack. To achieve this objective, we will closely examine the responses of individuals throughout the phishing process and establish connections between their cognitive processes and actions, drawing upon relevant literature. By integrating these insights, we will construct a holistic phishing stage model. Consequently, our research question, "How can we identify and understand the stages involved in the phishing process?" will guide our investigation. For this thesis, we conducted a qualitative study where we interviewed nine individuals from seven different IT consult…