CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

Cofense vs Proofpoint

Cofense sells a phishing defense platform that identifies and removes phishing campaigns reaching employee inboxes, along with phishing training built from real attack data. Proofpoint sells security that covers data and AI as one system, with access that follows intent. CISO Tribune files both under Email security and Human risk management. This page sets the two records side by side: what each sells, where it is based, who owns and funds it, the customers it names and its recent news, each fact numbered to its source.

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  • Cofense
  • Proofpoint
Cofense vs Proofpoint: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
CofenseCofense sells a phishing defense platform that identifies and removes phishing campaigns reaching employee inboxes, along with phishing training built from real attack data.cofense.comProofpointProofpoint sells security that covers data and AI as one system, with access that follows intent.proofpoint.com
What it sells
  • Cofense Phishing Defense Platform[2]A phishing defense platform powered by phishing-specific AI trained on billions of data points and signals from millions of reporters.
  • Cofense Phishing Remediation[8]Removes confirmed phishing threats from inboxes, including every variant of a confirmed campaign.
  • Cofense Command Center[2][6][8]One place to run a phishing defense program and prove it is working.
  • Cofense Phishing Training[3]Phishing training that uses real phishing data for adaptive simulations and awareness programs.
  • ITM / Endpoint DLP[19]Endpoint software whose main features are supported on Windows, Mac and Linux.
  • Proofpoint Threat Intelligence Services[21]A Proofpoint team that provides Threat Insights.
  • ET Intel[21]A subscription that gives full access to all insights.
  • ET Pro[21]A subscription that gives full access to all insights.
Categories
Headquarters
Arlington, United States[1]Sunnyvale, United States[1]
Founded
Not stated on its pages2002[1]
Ownership and funding
Not stated on its pagesOwned by Thoma Bravo since 2021[3][12][14][15]
Named customers
Not stated on its pages
  • Xcel Energy[4]
  • Princeton University[5]
  • Columbia University[6]
  • Informatica[7]
  • California Department of Motor Vehicles[8]
Recent news
  • September 23, 2026Cofense added a Competency Dashboard to its Command Center that measures how ready an organization is against phishing threats, rather than only training completion.[4]
  • February 4, 2026Cofense released a threat intelligence report titled The New Era of Phishing: Threats Built in the Age of AI.[9]
  • October 15, 2026Proofpoint and Varonis announced a definitive agreement under which Proofpoint will acquire Varonis in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $6.3 billion.[16]
  • September 22, 2026Proofpoint announced the Agentic Collaboration Security system, combining an intent-based detection model with agentic capabilities for email, collaboration tools and the browser.[17]
  • September 22, 2026Proofpoint announced the Proofpoint Agentic Data and AI Security system, built to secure AI and data as one connected risk.[18]
  • September 3, 2026Proofpoint introduced the SOC Analyst Agent, an AI capability that helps security teams investigate threats across Proofpoint security data, built with OpenAI models.[9]
  • August 4, 2026Proofpoint launched an OEM program that lets technology providers, security vendors and managed service providers embed its threat intelligence and detection capabilities.[10]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: listed, seen November 4, 2026[5]
  • G2: listed, seen November 10, 2026[14]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
From its own pages, Cofense sells mainly to security teams that run phishing defense at enterprise scale. Cofense describes its automated remediation as transparent, explainable, and safe to operationalize at enterprise scale. Cofense offers experts who can manage detection, remediation, and training end to end for teams that want to take the operational load off. Cofense positions its products as adding to existing email defenses.From its own pages, Proofpoint addresses cyberattacks on organisations where people and AI agents work side by side across email, cloud and collaboration tools. The customers Proofpoint quotes include an organisation using Proofpoint for AI security for employees using AI services and tools, and for AI security in the tools and agents it is building. A quoted Proofpoint customer runs email security, DLP and insider threat management that work together, with its analyst using a single security console.
Last verified
November 2, 2026October 10, 2026

Where they overlap

  • Email security is the primary category of both Cofense and Proofpoint; both are also filed under Human risk management.
  • Both are headquartered in the United States.

Where they differ, field by field

  • Cofense is also filed under Security awareness training. Proofpoint is also filed under Collaboration app security and Insider risk management.
  • Cofense lists Cofense Phishing Defense Platform, Cofense Phishing Remediation, Cofense Command Center and Cofense Phishing Training. Proofpoint lists ITM / Endpoint DLP, Proofpoint Threat Intelligence Services, ET Intel and ET Pro.
  • Cofense is headquartered in Arlington, United States. Proofpoint is headquartered in Sunnyvale, United States.
  • Proofpoint was founded in 2002.
  • Proofpoint is owned by Thoma Bravo, since 2021.
  • Proofpoint publicly names Xcel Energy, Princeton University, Columbia University, Informatica and California Department of Motor Vehicles.

How they differ

CISO Tribune files both Cofense and Proofpoint under Email security as the primary category, and both also appear under Human risk management. Cofense is headquartered in Arlington, United States, while Proofpoint is headquartered in Sunnyvale, United States. Proofpoint was founded in 2002 and has been owned by Thoma Bravo since 2021.

Cofense sells a phishing-focused set of products: Cofense Phishing Defense Platform, Cofense Phishing Remediation, Cofense Command Center and Cofense Phishing Training. Cofense says its remediation quarantines every variant of a confirmed campaign in under a minute, and that its training uses real phishing data for adaptive simulations. Cofense also says its products add to existing email defenses. Proofpoint describes its focus as data and AI security across email, cloud and collaboration tools, where people and AI agents work side by side. Its listed products include ITM / Endpoint DLP, Proofpoint Threat Intelligence Services, ET Intel and ET Pro, and CISO Tribune also files it under Collaboration app security and Insider risk management.

Proofpoint publicly names Xcel Energy, Princeton University, Columbia University, Informatica and California Department of Motor Vehicles as customers. On September 23, 2026, Cofense added a Competency Dashboard to its Command Center that measures how ready an organization is against phishing threats. On October 15, 2026, Proofpoint and Varonis announced a definitive agreement under which Proofpoint will acquire Varonis in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $6.3 billion. On September 22, 2026, Proofpoint announced the Agentic Collaboration Security system.

What it sells: Cofense

What Cofense Phishing Defense Platform does[2]
The Cofense Phishing Defense Platform is powered by phishing-specific AI trained on billions of data points and signals from millions of reporters. Cofense says threat intelligence from real attacks connects remediation and training into a single defense rather than separate tools. Cofense says its phishing-specific AI classifies and processes reported threats at scale, and every decision it makes is explainable and analyst-verified.
What Cofense Phishing Remediation does[8]
Cofense says it can remove confirmed threats in seconds and automatically eliminate similar threats going forward. Cofense says it quarantines every variant of a confirmed campaign in under a minute. Cofense describes AI-powered clustering to detect polymorphic attacks before threats are confirmed.
What Cofense Command Center does[2][6][8]
Cofense Command Center is one place to run a phishing defense program and prove it is working. Cofense says Phishing Remediation data in Cofense Command Center adds real-world threat and remediation context alongside training and competency insights.
What Cofense Phishing Training does[3]
Cofense Phishing Training uses real phishing data for adaptive simulations and awareness programs. Cofense says simulations can replicate smishing, vishing, and QR-code phishing. Cofense says employees can report threats with one click into a global intelligence network.

What it sells: Proofpoint

What Proofpoint Threat Intelligence Services does[21]
Threat Insights are provided by the Proofpoint Threat Intelligence Services team. Premium Threat Intelligence Services analysts curate threat news highlights.
What ET Intel does[21]
Subscribing to ET Intel or ET Pro gives full access to all insights. Threat Insights are provided by the Proofpoint Threat Intelligence Services team.
What ET Pro does[21]
Subscribing to ET Intel or ET Pro gives full access to all insights. Threat Insights are provided by the Proofpoint Threat Intelligence Services team.

Questions about Cofense and Proofpoint

What do Cofense and Proofpoint sell?
Cofense sells Cofense Phishing Defense Platform, Cofense Phishing Remediation, Cofense Command Center and Cofense Phishing Training. Proofpoint sells ITM / Endpoint DLP, Proofpoint Threat Intelligence Services, ET Intel and ET Pro.
Are Cofense and Proofpoint in the same category?
Yes. Email security is the primary category of both on CISO Tribune.
Where are Cofense and Proofpoint headquartered?
Cofense is headquartered in Arlington, United States. Proofpoint is headquartered in Sunnyvale, United States.
When were Cofense and Proofpoint founded?
Proofpoint was founded in 2002.
Who owns Cofense and Proofpoint?
Proofpoint is owned by Thoma Bravo, since 2021.
Which customers do Cofense and Proofpoint name?
Proofpoint publicly names Xcel Energy, Princeton University, Columbia University, Informatica and California Department of Motor Vehicles.
Who are Cofense and Proofpoint sold to?
From its own pages, Cofense sells mainly to security teams that run phishing defense at enterprise scale. From its own pages, Proofpoint addresses cyberattacks on organisations where people and AI agents work side by side across email, cloud and collaboration tools.
What have Cofense and Proofpoint announced recently?
September 23, 2026: Cofense added a Competency Dashboard to its Command Center that measures how ready an organization is against phishing threats, rather than only training completion. October 15, 2026: Proofpoint and Varonis announced a definitive agreement under which Proofpoint will acquire Varonis in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $6.3 billion.

About Cofense

Cofense sells a phishing defense platform that identifies and removes phishing campaigns reaching employee inboxes, along with phishing training built from real attack data. Cofense says it is the only cybersecurity platform focused exclusively on stopping phishing. Cofense says it is purpose-built for phishing, the most persistent and costly cyber threat.[2][6][7]

Cofense says its expert-supervised AI, combined with real-time intelligence from 35M+ trained users, detects advanced phishing attacks other solutions miss and remediates them in minutes. Cofense says its phishing-specific AI is continuously trained and validated by human analysts.[2][7]

The problem Cofense says it addresses starts after delivery. Cofense says polymorphic campaigns slip past secure email gateways and AI-only defenses. Cofense says removing one email at a time leaves entire campaigns active in inboxes. Cofense combines purpose-built phishing AI, trained on real attacks, with expert validation for post-perimeter detection. Cofense says it augments existing email defenses, covering phishing detection and response gaps.[6][7]

The Cofense Phishing Defense Platform is powered by phishing-specific AI trained on billions of data points and signals from millions of reporters. Cofense says threat intelligence from real attacks connects remediation and training into a single defense rather than separate tools. Cofense says its phishing-specific AI classifies and processes reported threats at scale, and every decision it makes is explainable and analyst-verified. Cofense Command Center is one place to run a phishing defense program and prove it is working. Cofense says Phishing Remediation data in Cofense Command Center adds real-world threat and remediation context alongside training and competency insights.[2][8]

Cofense says Cofense Phishing Remediation goes further than detecting threats that evade perimeter defenses, and that Cofense removes threats with 99.998% accuracy. Cofense says it can remove confirmed threats in seconds and automatically eliminate similar threats going forward. Cofense says it quarantines every variant of a confirmed campaign in under a minute. Cofense describes AI-powered clustering to detect polymorphic attacks before threats are confirmed. Cofense also describes email triage and response with precision clustering, AI-driven auto classification, and click tracking to process reported threats in minutes.[2][8]

Cofense Phishing Training uses real phishing data for adaptive simulations and awareness programs. Cofense says its training turns verified attacks into real-world simulations instead of generic templates. Cofense says simulations can replicate smishing, vishing, and QR-code phishing. Cofense says employees can report threats with one click into a global intelligence network. Cofense says it turns real attacks into the simulations employees train on, then measures competency against what attackers are actually sending.[2][3]

Cofense says its experts can manage detection, remediation, and training end to end, taking the operational load off the customer's team. Cofense connects to the tools customers already use, and says intelligence and remediation extend across the existing stack.[2][3][6][8]

Cofense on the record

Sources

Cofense full record

  1. [1]ContactCofense · cofense.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Unified Phishing Defense Platform Built to Learn & Adapt | CofenseCofense · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]PhishMe Security Awareness Training (SAT) Platform | CofenseCofense · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Cofense Expands AI-Driven Phishing Defense Platform to Advance Secure Behavior ManagementBusiness Wire · published September 23, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Cofense Reviews, Ratings & Features 2026 | Gartner Peer InsightsGartner Peer Insights · undated page, accessed October 23, 2026 · Tier C
  6. [6]Phishing Defense Powered by AI & Human Insight | CofenseCofense · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]About Us | Cofense Email SecurityCofense · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Phishing Detection & Rapid Response Platform | Cofense PDRCofense · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Cofense Report Reveals AI-Powered Phishing Accelerated to One Attack Every 19 SecondsCofense · published February 4, 2026 · Tier A

Proofpoint full record

  1. [1]AboutProofpoint · proofpoint.com · published April 21, 2025 · Tier A
  2. [2]ProductsProofpoint · proofpoint.com · published September 24, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Thoma bravo completes acquisition of proofpointThoma Bravo · thomabravo.com · published August 31, 2021 · Tier A
  4. [4]Xcel energyProofpoint · proofpoint.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]Princeton university safe with proofpoint email securityProofpoint · proofpoint.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Columbia universityProofpoint · proofpoint.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]InformaticaProofpoint · proofpoint.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]California department motor vehiclesProofpoint · proofpoint.com · undated page, accessed October 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Proofpoint soc analyst agent openai daybreakProofpoint · proofpoint.com · published September 3, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Proofpoint launches oem program help security providers embed trusted threatProofpoint · proofpoint.com · published August 4, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Proofpoint launches dedicated msp business unit and introduces 365 totalProofpoint · proofpoint.com · published May 13, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Enterprise Cybersecurity Solutions, Services & Training | Proofpoint USProofpoint · undated page, accessed October 27, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Integrating ITM On-Prem (ObserveIT) with a Service Desk SystemProofpoint · undated page, accessed October 27, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Proofpoint Core Email Protection Reviews & Product Details - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 27, 2026 · Tier C
  15. [15]Proofpoint Acquires Acuvity to Deliver AI Security and Governance Across the Agentic WorkspaceProofpoint · published February 12, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]Proofpoint to Acquire Varonis in a $6.3 Billion TransactionProofpoint · published October 15, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]Proofpoint Stops the Attacks Traditional Defenses Miss in the AI EraProofpoint · published September 22, 2026 · Tier A
  18. [18]Proofpoint Breaks Down the Divide Between Data Security and AI Security with the Industry’s First Unified Agentic SystemProofpoint · published September 22, 2026 · Tier A
  19. [19]ITM / Endpoint DLP Windows / Mac / Linux SupportProofpoint · published November 9, 2026 · Tier A
  20. [20]Assigning SQL Permissions to the Service Account UserProofpoint · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  21. [21]Proofpoint: Emerging Threats IntelligenceProofpoint · published November 9, 2026 · Tier A

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