KnowBe4

What the company sells

KnowBe4 sells attack simulation and training, email and collaboration security, and agent security through the KnowBe4 Platform. KnowBe4 says it protects humans, and now their AI agents too. KnowBe4 says its platform uses 15 years of behavioral data against threats including social engineering, prompt injection and shadow AI. KnowBe4 says it serves more than 70,000 organizations worldwide.

KnowBe4 describes its personalized education as helping people recognize threats, followed by realistic phishing and vishing simulations. KnowBe4's AI-Native Security Awareness Training gives academic institutions a path to reducing student-driven human risk. Real-Time Coaching sends a contextual SecurityTip to reinforce secure behavior when a student clicks a suspicious link or tries to access restricted content. AIDA automates training assignments, phishing simulations, policy quizzes and knowledge refreshers based on each student's individual risk profile. KnowBe4 says its agent security is powered by AIDA, short for Artificial Intelligence Defense Agents, and a proprietary Risk Score. KnowBe4 says it offers real-time visibility, automated threat detection and active AI agent control to eliminate AI security blind spots.

KnowBe4 Cloud Email Security is a suite of AI-driven products designed to detect and prevent advanced email threats across inbound and outbound communication. Defend detects and blocks phishing, ransomware and business email compromise with behavioral AI and self-learning threat models, and enhances Microsoft 365's built-in security. Prevent monitors outbound email in real time and alerts users to risky behavior, such as accidental sends or misdirected emails. Protect offers policy-based email encryption and automatically enforces an organization's security policies. KnowBe4 says its layered cloud defenses spot and stop phishing, malware and social engineering attacks. KnowBe4 Cloud Email Security delivers contextual banners and prompts at the point of risk, which KnowBe4 says augment security awareness and training through real-time teachable moments.

Defend combines AI-powered detection, real-time user education and actionable insights to protect against phishing threats. Defend inserts color-coded banners when an inbound email is flagged, providing risk explanations and teachable feedback. Defend rewrites links and checks them at time of click. Defend detects QR codes within email to warn users of quishing attempts. Defend includes sender policy verification lookup and validation for SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Defend filters graymail to a separate folder. Defend integrates into MS Outlook apps on Windows Desktop, Mac, iOS and Android, and with MS Safelinks. The KnowBe4 Defend and Microsoft Defender for Office 365 integration delivers threat management through API-based connectivity. Defend has an API that supports integration into a SIEM/SOAR. A Microsoft Sentinel connector is available on Azure marketplace for Native Microsoft customers.

Prevent uses machine learning to analyze emails in real time, focusing on sender behavior, content and recipients. Prevent is integrated with Microsoft Outlook and Office 365. Prevent alerts users when they receive or attempt to interact with domains less than 50 days old. Prevent Enterprise adds misdirected content detection, custom DLP policies and integration with Microsoft Azure Information Protection (Purview). Prevent Enterprise features are customized to an organization's DLP requirements and require Professional Services to implement.

Compliance Plus has a training library of 1000+ items of compliance training content. Compliance Plus offers targeted training for legislative and data privacy requirements, such as HIPAA, PCI and GDPR. With Compliance Plus, organizations can incorporate their own policies and procedures into brandable modules and upload SCORM-compliant training and video content to the KnowBe4 LMS. The KnowBe4 Student Edition enables academic institutions to prepare students to identify and prevent modern cyberattacks. Student Edition training content covers phishing, BYOD risks, password hygiene, social media risks, campus scams and off-campus data security.

BreachSim is a free tool from KnowBe4 to identify network vulnerabilities. BreachSim tests over 12 realistic data exfiltration scenarios following the MITRE ATT&CK framework. The Weak Password Test is a free tool to help IT Administrators know which users have passwords that are easily guessed. The Weak Password Test checks the Active Directory for several types of weak password-related threats and generates a report of users with weak passwords. KnowBe4's Security Culture Benchmarking Analysis Center provides analysis of security culture benchmarking data by industry, organizational size and geographical region.

Hood College used Student Edition to see an increase in reported phishing emails and to reduce clicking on phishing campaigns. Bridgewater State University is a KnowBe4 customer. The Mido Foundation equipped young learners to recognize and respond to real-world cyber threats with KnowBe4. One customer says it selected KnowBe4 Defend and Prevent as added security layers in its Microsoft 365 environment. The KnowBe4 CSM team assists in guiding customers through onboarding tasks at no additional cost. KnowBe4 Customer Success Managers work with customers to tailor program requirements based on organizational goals, objectives and desired outcomes. KnowBe4's Customer Success Team spans the globe.^{[3][5][6][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]}

Categories

• Security awareness training (primary category)
• Human risk management
• Email security
• AI model and agent security
• Compare KnowBe4 with companies in the same categoryside by side

Headquarters

Clearwater, United States

Founded

2010^[1]

Ownership

Owned by Vista Equity Partners since 2023^[2][4][8][9]

CISO on record

Not yet on our record. Send a verified source

Website

knowbe4.com

Products and services

Product names as the company writes them; what each does, in our words, from the company's own product pages. Never how well it does it.

• Security Awareness Training^[4][5][7]

  Education on recognizing threats, reinforced with phishing and vishing simulations.

  KnowBe4 says it delivers timely, personalized education that helps people recognize threats. Lessons are reinforced with realistic phishing and vishing simulations.

• Cloud Email Security^[10]

  A suite of AI-driven products for inbound and outbound email.

  KnowBe4 Cloud Email Security is a suite of AI-driven products designed to detect and prevent advanced email threats across inbound and outbound communication. Contextual banners and prompts are delivered at the point of risk.

• Defend^{[1][4][5][6][10][11]}

  Inbound email protection against phishing, ransomware and business email compromise.

  Defend detects and blocks phishing, ransomware and business email compromise with behavioral AI and self-learning threat models. Defend inserts color-coded banners on flagged email and rewrites links, checking them at time of click. Defend integrates with Microsoft Defender for Office 365 through API-based connectivity.

• Prevent^[5][10][12]

  Outbound email protection and data loss prevention.

  Prevent monitors outbound email in real time and alerts users to risky behavior, such as accidental sends or misdirected emails. Prevent is integrated with Microsoft Outlook and Office 365. Prevent Enterprise adds misdirected content detection and custom DLP policies.

• Compliance Plus^[13]

  Compliance training platform.

  Compliance Plus has a training library of 1000+ items of compliance training content. Compliance Plus offers targeted training for requirements such as HIPAA, PCI and GDPR. Organizations can upload SCORM-compliant content to the KnowBe4 LMS.

• Student Edition^[5]

  Security awareness training for academic institutions.

  The KnowBe4 Student Edition enables academic institutions to prepare students to identify and prevent modern cyberattacks. Its training content covers phishing, BYOD risks, password hygiene, social media risks and campus scams.

• BreachSim^[14]

  A free tool to identify network vulnerabilities.

  BreachSim is a free tool from KnowBe4 to identify network vulnerabilities. BreachSim tests over 12 realistic data exfiltration scenarios following the MITRE ATT&CK framework.

• Weak Password Test^[15]

  A free tool that finds users with weak passwords.

  The Weak Password Test is a free tool to help IT Administrators know which users have passwords that are easily guessed. It checks the Active Directory and generates a report of users with weak passwords.

Competitors and alternatives

The other companies on our record filed under the same categories, category by category: first those that lead with that category and share more of KnowBe4's categories, then alphabetical. A list from the record, never a ranking.

• On security awareness training, KnowBe4 competes with NINJIO, Adaptive Security, Frame Security, Immersive, Jericho Security, SoSafe, Google, Cofense, Doppel, Hornetsecurity and 14 more.

• On human risk management, KnowBe4 competes with Hoxhunt, Keepnet Labs, Living Security, Fable Security, Cofense, Doppel, NINJIO, Egress, Frame Security, Immersive and 4 more.

• On email security, KnowBe4 competes with Cofense, Abnormal AI, Egress, Hornetsecurity, Proofpoint, Trustifi, Barracuda Networks, IRONSCALES, Material Security, Mimecast and 12 more.

• On ai model and agent security, KnowBe4 competes with AIShield, Alice, Asymptote Labs, Bay, Dreadnode, Enkrypt AI, Fiddler AI, HiddenLayer, Knostic, Mindgard and 54 more.

What review platforms show

The headline rating and review count each platform showed in public search results on the day we looked, with the link. We do not read or reproduce the reviews, and a rating is the platform's, not ours.

• G2 · 5.0 out of 5 · 2,420 reviews^[8]seen November 4, 2026
• Gartner Peer Insights · no rating shown · 2,494 reviews^[9]seen November 4, 2026

Recent news

Dated company events from the last twelve months, each in one sentence of ours with its source. Newest first.

• May 5, 2026

  KnowBe4 launched a two-tier Security Awareness Training offering and a new AI defense agent for custom content creation. Business Wire^[7]

• April 6, 2026

  Dashlane announced an integration with KnowBe4 that links credential risk detection to security training for at-risk users. PR Newswire^[18]

References

Every fact above cites one of these by number. Tier A is the company itself, a regulator or a filing; tier B is trade or business press.

1. [1]About usKnowBe4 · knowbe4.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A: the company, a regulator or a filing
2. [2]Vista equity partners completes acquisition of knowbe4KnowBe4 · knowbe4.com · published February 1, 2023 · Tier A: the company, a regulator or a filing
3. [3]Contact usKnowBe4 · knowbe4.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A: the company, a regulator or a filing
4. [4]KnowBe4 | Secure Your Digital Workforce: Human + AIKnowBe4 · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A: the company, a regulator or a filing
5. [5]KnowBe4 Student Edition | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A: the company, a regulator or a filing
6. [6]Warning: Attackers Are Using Calendar Invite Files to Evade Security FiltersKnowBe4 · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A: the company, a regulator or a filing
7. [7]KnowBe4 Launches AI-Native Attack Simulation & Training Product and Twelfth AI AgentBusiness Wire · published May 5, 2026 · Tier A: the company, a regulator or a filing
8. [8]KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training Reviews 2026 - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier C
9. [9]KnowBe4 Reviews, Ratings & Features 2026 | Gartner Peer InsightsGartner Peer Insights · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier C
10. [10]Cloud Email Security for Microsoft 365 | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A: the company, a regulator or a filing
11. [11]Pricing | DefendKnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A: the company, a regulator or a filing
12. [12]Pricing | Prevent | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A: the company, a regulator or a filing
13. [13]Compliance Plus: Compliance Training Platform | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A: the company, a regulator or a filing
14. [14]BreachSim | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A: the company, a regulator or a filing
15. [15]Weak Password Test | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A: the company, a regulator or a filing
16. [16]Security Culture Report Analysis Center | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A: the company, a regulator or a filing
17. [17]KnowBe4 Customer Success | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A: the company, a regulator or a filing
18. [18]Dashlane Launches First-of-its-Kind Integration with KnowBe4 to Transform Security Awareness into Proactive DefensePR Newswire · published April 6, 2026 · Tier A: the company, a regulator or a filing

Last verified September 27, 2026. Our code found the quoted passage behind each fact on its source page when the fact was recorded, and re-checks every record against its sources each month.

Recorded September 27, 2026, expanded November 4, 2026 from the references above.

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