What Happens When an Employee Clicks a Phishing Link in 2026?

At a Glance

Clicking a phishing link does not always result in a data breach, but a rapid response is essential. Prompt reporting, account protection, device investigation and data breach containment can significantly reduce the impact of phishing attacks. Clear employee guidance, incident response planning and ongoing security awareness training are key to limiting organisational risk.

Call Redpalm today to review your readiness against phishing attacks.

What Do You Do If an Employee Clicks on a Phishing Link?

The answer to the question depends on the next set of actions taken. Because clicking on a phishing link does not automatically mean that your organisation has suffered a data breach. The actual outcome depends on what the link does, whether your employee enters any information, whether they download a malicious file and how quickly you report the incident.

But clicking on phishing links should never be taken lightly, because a single click can trigger a much larger attack. It could steal your Microsoft 365 login credentials or even convince your employee to approve a payment.

Knowing what to do if you click on a phishing link is not just an IT problem. Every employee in your organisation needs to know what to do if they click a phishing link and what simple reporting process to follow. Likewise, your organisation needs the technical capability, incident plan and data breach containment process, if required, to investigate and contain the threat.

This guide explains your next steps.

Questions this Article Answers:

• Does clicking a phishing link automatically mean our business suffered a data breach?
• What immediate actions should an employee take if they enter credentials or approve an MFA prompt?
• Why is changing a password insufficient after an account compromise?
• What containment steps must happen within the first hour of an incident?

Jargon You’ll Come Across in This Article:

• Quishing: A type of phishing using malicious QR codes to bypass standard email security filters.
• Session Cookies/Tokens: These are digital credentials stored in web browsers that keep users logged in during a session.
• Adversary-in-the-Middle (AiTM): An advanced phishing attack where cybercriminals position themselves between a user and a legitimate website or service to steal credentials and active session tokens in real time.

Why Are Phishing Attacks So Dangerous?

Phishing has become a fairly common cybercrime. The UK Government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2025/26 found that of the 43% of UK businesses that identified a cyber security breach, 38% reported phishing.

The Way It Works

Phishing is dangerous, particularly because of the way it works. It targets people rather than relying solely on a technical vulnerability. This means that a bad actor doesn’t need to bypass a firewall or discover a new software flaw. They just need to convince your employee to provide legitimate login details.

How It’s Delivered

In 2026, phishing attacks can be delivered through:

• Text messages
• Fraudulent emails
• Microsoft Teams and other messaging platforms
• QR codes, known as Quishing
• Fake file-sharing notifications
• Telephone calls and voice messages
• Malicious online advertisements
• Compromised supplier accounts

The message can come from a senior manager, customer, supplier or courier and it can ask the employee to access a shared document, reset a password or approve a payment urgently. This may put your employee under undue pressure to respond quickly. 

It Can Closely Imitate Genuine Services

Another reason phishing is so dangerous is how closely it can imitate genuine services. Cyber criminals can create a malicious website by copying the design, branding and login screen of popular work apps like Microsoft 365, Google Workspace or Dropbox. When your employee clicks on such a website and enters their login credentials, the attacker now has access to those details.

Uses Advanced Forms of Attack

More advanced forms of attack are stealing browser session cookies or authentication tokens. These tokens can allow attackers to use an already authenticated session to log in, rather than using a stolen password. This is one reason why it’s important to understand that a password change alone can’t contain an account compromise.

But clicking is not the same as a breach. There is a difference between only clicking a link and a confirmed data breach. For instance, if your employee opens the page but does not enter information, approve a request or download a file, the risk is relatively limited. Browser security, web filtering and endpoint protection may block the malicious content, but they should never be relied upon as the sole defence. 

Regardless, the incident should be reported. Immediate reporting allows the IT team to investigate further whether the page downloaded anything, was accessed by other employees or whether the same phishing message had reached other inboxes.

What Happens Right After an Employee Clicks a Phishing Link?

Quick Answer: Clicking a link alone carries minimal risk, but entering credentials, approving an MFA prompt or downloading files immediately compromises the system and requires IT containment. The outcome depends on the employee’s next steps and the type of phishing attack.

Scenario 1: If the employee only clicks on the link, the page opens and takes no further action

They may see a fake login page, an error message or a blank website. They should report the incident immediately. Here the risk may be low, but your organisation should investigate further to confirm whether there was any compromise.

Scenario 2: If the employee enters a username and password

The attacker may use an automation system to use the information immediately against multiple accounts. If they breach a cloud account, they may gain access to sensitive information such as customer details and internal conversations.

Scenario 3: If the employee approves an MFA request

MFA improves account security, but it doesn’t completely eliminate the risk of phishing. An attacker may send approval notifications repeatedly in the hope the employee accepts one. If the employee has approved a request, they should not just change their password alone. Instead, your IT team should treat the account as potentially compromised, revoke active sessions and review authentication methods.

Scenario 4: If the employee enters payment or banking information

If your employee has disclosed bank details, card information or payment approval data, you need to contact the bank or payment provider immediately rather than conducting a full technical investigation. Every second could reduce the chance of stopping or recovering a fraudulent transaction. The incident should also be escalated internally and reported to fraud-reporting services where required.

What to Do If You Click on a Phishing Link

Here’s what your employees can do:

• Stop interacting with the website
• Report the incident immediately to your internal IT team or managed service provider following the reporting process.
• Ask the employee to explain the incident honestly
• Preserve the phishing message and don’t delete it unless instructed to
• Change compromised passwords from trusted devices
• Follow instructions about isolating the device
• Report the phishing message internally. Report suspicious emails to the National Cyber Security Centre’s Suspicious Email Reporting Service.

While clicking on a phishing link can be serious, it’s important to understand that employees should not be blamed or asked to hide the mistake. This can delay reporting and give criminals more time to operate.

Why the First Hour Matters for Data Breach Containment

Quick Answer: The first 60 minutes determine whether an incident remains an isolated click or escalates into a systemic breach requiring mandatory 72-hour ICO reporting.

The longer the attacker retains access, the more opportunity they have to read messages, copy data, target other users or interfere with recovery. This is why the first hour after the incident is a critical operating window. 

Data breach containment is effective when you know what exactly happened.

This gives your IT team and incident response team enough time to:

• Confirm the employee’s actions
• Secure potentially compromised accounts
• Isolate affected devices
• Search for the wider campaign reach
• Protect connected systems
• Assess whether personal data has been breached

A personal data breach must be reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office where it is likely to result in a risk to people’s rights and freedoms. Where notification is required, it must be made without delay, where feasible within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach.

How Redpalm Helps Businesses Respond to Phishing Incidents

Clicking a phishing link is not the only risk. The quality and speed of response after the click distinguish between a contained event and a serious business disruption.

Redpalm is an expert in IT and cyber security services, helping businesses prevent, detect and respond to phishing incidents.

Our managed cyber security services include:

• Incident Response Planning
• Quick Investigation and Resolution
• Identity and Access Management
• Endpoint Management and Security
• Vulnerability Scanning and Assessments
• Proactive IT Monitoring
• Backup and Disaster Recovery Planning
• Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus support
• User Awareness Training and Phishing Simulations

Our phishing awareness campaigns use realistic examples and live demos to show your employees how to respond to common phishing attacks. We can train your users to identify and report suspicious emails and messages. 

Download our data sheet here.

With the right cyber security partner like Redpalm, an accidental click doesn’t have to lead to a major breach. 

Are you confident your team would know what to do after clicking a phishing link? Call Redpalm to check your free cyber risk score and find out how prepared your organisation is against phishing attacks.

FAQs

Do we need to report every phishing click to the ICO?

No. Reporting is only required if personal data has been compromised and poses a risk to individuals’ rights and freedoms.

Isn’t Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) enough to protect us?

While MFA prevents standard password guessing, adversary-in-the-middle attacks can bypass it by stealing session tokens, making proactive monitoring vital.

Will reporting an accidental link click cause unnecessary operational downtime?

Not always. Early reporting enables IT to run background log checks and revoke tokens without taking core systems offline.

Why is changing the password alone not enough after entering credentials on a phishing page?

Cybercriminals don’t just capture passwords but also active session tokens. So changing your password doesn’t automatically stop and invalidate active browser sessions. Your IT team must immediately revoke all active sessions across all connected cloud services.

Should employees face disciplinary action after they click a phishing link?

No, because the fear of disciplinary action can lead employees to hide mistakes, delaying the critical containment window. Instead, your organisation should encourage an immediate, honest and judgement-free reporting process.