Troubleshooting: Blocked from clicking a fail link

Overview

Hoxhunt training emails can include different fail mechanisms in which you can "fall for" the phishing test. These methods include, but are not limited to:

1. Fail links located in the email (either as a URL or hidden in a CTA or button)

2. Fake attachments (a link hidden in the image of an attachment)

3. Real attachments (a link hidden in the attachment)

When you interact with these elements, you fail the phishing test. During technical testing you will be asked to do so intentionally, so we can test that nothing is blocking the fail links. Hoxhunt uses 200+ domains and urls for training purposes, to offer variety and a challenge for the employees during the phishing training. These domains and urls simulate the types of domains and urls used in real phishing attacks, so they will often be blocked by different automated tools built to detect suspicious urls. 

When everything is working as it should, the employee will get the "Oops!" landing page as shown below:

Screenshot_2022-05-20_at_11.56.53.png

From there, they can take the micro training moment to learn more about the red flags they should look out for in the future to identify a phishing email.

 

Common issues

Common issues with fail links are:

1. That the user is shown the Login link has expired page. For troubleshooting this issue, check out: Login link has expired

2. That the user is blocked from engaging with the link due to a web filter, proxy, link scanner or other technical solution that blocks the user from opening the link. Depending on your technical solution, this may display a text such as "Sorry, you don't have permission to access this link" or "Access to this site is blocked due to company policy".

To solve these blocked link situations, your IT department admin should determine:

  • What technical solution is blocking access to the urls.
  • What type of allowlisting the technical solution allows. Most commonly, they allow domain allowlisting. Please reach out to your Onboarding Manager or Hoxhunt Support at support@hoxhunt.com if you need the list of domains to allowlist.  

Your admins can read more here: Allow/whitelisting proxies, VPNs, firewalls and link scanners overview

 

Questions or further issues?

If you need any additional help, please don't hesitate to reach out to Hoxhunt Support at support@hoxhunt.com.

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