Outsmarting Modern Phishing: How Performanta’s Managed Service with Ironscales Thwart Attackers

Phishing attacks have evolved dramatically over recent years to become increasingly sophisticated and reveal the inability of legacy approaches to keep up. AI can help attackers craft far more effective mails that are hard to distinguish from legitimate communications, while the adoption of advanced tactics like QR code phishing, polymorphic malware, and delayed weaponisation, have reduced the effectiveness of traditional email security tools, such as Secure Email Gateways. The manual work to add rules, identify threats escaping defences and release incorrectly quarantined mails place a burden on security teams already overwhelmed with alerts and competing priorities.

That’s where Performanta’s Managed Phishing Service, powered by Ironscales, steps in.

The New Face of Phishing

Today’s phishing threats are stealthy, context-aware, and often payload-free. They exploit social engineering, impersonate trusted partners, and bypass standard authenticity checks like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. With over 80% of breaches linked to phishing, organisations need more than rule-based filters—they need intelligent, adaptive protection. Trying to react to attacks already bypassing your controls means it’s only a matter of time before an attack succeeds.

Ironscales: AI Meets Human Expertise

Ironscales redefines email security by focusing not just on bad content, but on bad intent. Its Adaptive AI engine, Themis, analyses behavioural patterns, natural language, and social graphs to detect threats like Business Email Compromise (BEC), Account Takeover (ATO), and phishing scams in real time. This approach enables novel attacks to be detected instead of trying to build defences based on attacks previously seen.

What sets Ironscales apart is combining machine learning with human expertise. A global community of over 25,000 security experts continuously feeds threat intelligence into the platform, enhancing its detection capabilities and ensuring rapid validation of suspicious emails.

Performanta’s Managed Phishing Service: Always-On Protection

Performanta extends Ironscales’ link to human expertise with 24/7/365 managed threat detection and response. When threats fall below the threshold for automated remediation, they’re escalated to expert analysts for immediate review. Users cannot release emails independently, adding a critical safeguard against accidental exposure by ensuring emails have been analysed by an expert before a user can interact with them.

The service includes:

· 24/7/365 Real-time threat detection and automated response

· Expert-led analysis and escalation for complex threats

· Proactive threat hunting and intelligence-driven investigations

· Integrated phishing simulations and security awareness training

· Dedicated Service Delivery Manager for governance and reporting

Building Resilience Through Awareness

Phishing resilience isn’t just about technology – your employees can either be a serious vulnerability or a critical first line of defence. Performanta’s service includes GPT-powered spear-phishing simulations and tailored Security Awareness Training (SAT) modules. The platform measures the proficiency of each user in identifying phishing emails, enabling highly targeted training that can target each user at the right level to enhance their resilience.

Seamless Deployment, Scalable Protection

Ironscales integrates effortlessly with platforms like Microsoft 365 via APIs, enabling rapid deployment with minimal configuration. Our robust service onboarding process enables the seamless transition from the current approach to a full 24/7/365 protection using our Managed Phishing service. This flexibility enables scaling protection as threats and business needs evolve.

Conclusion

As phishing threats grow more advanced, Performanta’s Managed Phishing Service with Ironscales offers a future-ready defence. By combining AI-driven detection with human-led validation and user education, it delivers a comprehensive, resilient approach to email security, ensuring organisations stay one step ahead of attackers.

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Darren Robertson

Sales Engineer, Performanta