CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

IRONSCALES vs KnowBe4

IRONSCALES sells email security that protects Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace against business email compromise, account takeover, malware and malicious URLs, credential harvesting, generative AI attacks, QR code and image-based phishing, and deepfake impersonation in Microsoft Teams meetings. KnowBe4 sells attack simulation and training, email and collaboration security, and agent security through the KnowBe4 Platform. CISO Tribune files both under Email security. 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.

Change the companies

Up to four companies side by side.

  • IRONSCALES
  • KnowBe4
IRONSCALES vs KnowBe4: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
IRONSCALESIRONSCALES sells email security that protects Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace against business email compromise, account takeover, malware and malicious URLs, credential harvesting, generative AI attacks, QR code and image-based phishing, and deepfake impersonation in Microsoft Teams meetings.ironscales.comKnowBe4KnowBe4 sells attack simulation and training, email and collaboration security, and agent security through the KnowBe4 Platform.knowbe4.com
What it sells
  • Phishing SOC Agent[6][10]Delivers L2-level forensics on suspicious email.
  • Phishing Simulation Agent[6][10]Builds phishing simulations from OSINT gathered on employees.
  • Human Risk Management[11]Phishing simulation, security awareness training, and user risk scoring.
  • Themis[2][9]An agentic AI virtual SOC that classifies, clusters, and remediates threats.
  • Email Incident Management Service (EIMS)[12]IRONSCALES experts handle email threat investigation, remediation, and AI tuning.
  • Security Awareness Training[4][5][7]Education on recognizing threats, reinforced with phishing and vishing simulations.
  • Cloud Email Security[10]A suite of AI-driven products for inbound and outbound email.
  • Defend[1][4][5][6][10][11]Inbound email protection against phishing, ransomware and business email compromise.
  • Prevent[5][10][12]Outbound email protection and data loss prevention.
  • Compliance Plus[13]Compliance training platform.
  • Student Edition[5]Security awareness training for academic institutions.
  • BreachSim[14]A free tool to identify network vulnerabilities.
  • Weak Password Test[15]A free tool that finds users with weak passwords.
Categories
Headquarters
Atlanta, United States[1][13]Clearwater, United States
Founded
2014[1][13]2010[1]
Ownership and funding
Privately held[4][8]Owned by Vista Equity Partners since 2023[2][4][8][9]
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
Not stated on its pages
  • May 5, 2026KnowBe4 launched a two-tier Security Awareness Training offering and a new AI defense agent for custom content creation.[7]
  • April 6, 2026Dashlane announced an integration with KnowBe4 that links credential risk detection to security training for at-risk users.[18]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: listed, seen October 25, 2026[8]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
  • G2: listed, seen November 4, 2026[8]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: listed, seen November 4, 2026[9]
Who it fits
From its own pages, the company sells mainly to enterprises and to MSPs and MSSPs. One entry point addresses global companies that are transforming their email security to tackle modern threats. The site also presents a comparison of secure email gateways and API-based solutions for enterprises and MSPs.Not written yet
Last verified
November 2, 2026September 27, 2026

Where they overlap

  • IRONSCALES and KnowBe4 are both filed under Email security.
  • Both are headquartered in the United States.

Where they differ, field by field

  • IRONSCALES's primary category is Email security; KnowBe4's is Security awareness training.
  • IRONSCALES is also filed under AI SOC analysts. KnowBe4 is also filed under Human risk management and AI model and agent security.
  • IRONSCALES lists Phishing SOC Agent, Phishing Simulation Agent, Human Risk Management, Themis and Email Incident Management Service (EIMS). KnowBe4 lists Security Awareness Training, Cloud Email Security, Defend, Prevent, Compliance Plus and 3 more.
  • IRONSCALES is headquartered in Atlanta, United States. KnowBe4 is headquartered in Clearwater, United States.
  • IRONSCALES was founded in 2014. KnowBe4 was founded in 2010.
  • IRONSCALES is privately held. KnowBe4 is owned by Vista Equity Partners, since 2023.

What it sells: IRONSCALES

What Phishing SOC Agent does[6][10]
Phishing SOC Agent delivers L2-level forensics in minutes and runs five analysis tracks in parallel: sender verification, body analysis for social engineering, link inspection through the full redirect chain, attachment detonation across 100+ engines, and relay path tracing. The agent's output is a Security Assessment with a verdict, key evidence, and a full activity log of every step it took.
What Phishing Simulation Agent does[6][10]
Phishing Simulation Agent gathers OSINT on people, including social media profiles, data breach exposure, and recent job changes, and builds simulations that mirror the tactics targeting the organization. Personalized phishing emails are written in each employee's native language, and one sample per employee cluster is approved by the customer.
What Human Risk Management does[11]
The platform incorporates Human Risk Management: phishing simulation, security awareness training, and user risk scoring modules that automatically tailor simulations to each employee's specific threat profile. IRONSCALES offers a GPT-powered spear phishing module for VIPs and frequently targeted employees.
What Themis does[2][9]
Themis is described as an agentic AI virtual SOC that automatically classifies, clusters, and remediates threats detected by machine learning models or user-reported emails. When a threat is detected, Themis takes autonomous action: quarantining, clustering, or escalating based on automation preferences.

What it sells: KnowBe4

What Security Awareness Training does[4][5][7]
KnowBe4 says it delivers timely, personalized education that helps people recognize threats. Lessons are reinforced with realistic phishing and vishing simulations.
What Cloud Email Security does[10]
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.
What Defend does[1][4][5][6][10][11]
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.
What Prevent does[5][10][12]
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.
What Compliance Plus does[13]
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.
What Student Edition does[5]
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.
What BreachSim does[14]
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.
What Weak Password Test does[15]
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.

Questions about IRONSCALES and KnowBe4

What do IRONSCALES and KnowBe4 sell?
IRONSCALES sells Phishing SOC Agent, Phishing Simulation Agent, Human Risk Management, Themis and Email Incident Management Service (EIMS). KnowBe4 sells Security Awareness Training, Cloud Email Security, Defend, Prevent, Compliance Plus and 3 more.
Are IRONSCALES and KnowBe4 in the same category?
They share Email security. IRONSCALES's primary category is Email security and KnowBe4's is Security awareness training.
Where are IRONSCALES and KnowBe4 headquartered?
IRONSCALES is headquartered in Atlanta, United States. KnowBe4 is headquartered in Clearwater, United States.
When were IRONSCALES and KnowBe4 founded?
IRONSCALES was founded in 2014. KnowBe4 was founded in 2010.
Who owns IRONSCALES and KnowBe4?
IRONSCALES is privately held. KnowBe4 is owned by Vista Equity Partners, since 2023.
Who are IRONSCALES and KnowBe4 sold to?
From its own pages, the company sells mainly to enterprises and to MSPs and MSSPs.
What have IRONSCALES and KnowBe4 announced recently?
May 5, 2026: KnowBe4 launched a two-tier Security Awareness Training offering and a new AI defense agent for custom content creation.

About IRONSCALES

IRONSCALES sells email security that protects Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace against business email compromise, account takeover, malware and malicious URLs, credential harvesting, generative AI attacks, QR code and image-based phishing, and deepfake impersonation in Microsoft Teams meetings. IRONSCALES connects to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace through a native API integration, with no MX record changes, no agents, and no mail flow disruption. IRONSCALES can be added behind an existing secure email gateway, and the gateway can be retired later.[7]

Adaptive AI builds a behavioral baseline and social graph using NLP and NLU, learning how users normally communicate. Adaptive AI provides real-time reputation, content, and behavioral analysis to detect malicious threats. Adaptive AI works at the mailbox level and sees internal and external traffic. IRONSCALES combines Adaptive AI with human insight from 36,000+ threat hunters across 18,000+ organizations, so an attack confirmed in one organization is blocked for the rest.[2][7]

Themis is described as an agentic AI virtual SOC that automatically classifies, clusters, and remediates threats detected by machine learning models or user-reported emails. When a threat is detected, Themis takes autonomous action: quarantining, clustering, or escalating based on automation preferences. IRONSCALES automates threat classification, incident clustering, quarantine actions, user notifications, and enrichment with threat intelligence. Admins can configure workflows from alert-only to fully automated remediation and end-user notification. When a user clicks the Report Phishing button, IRONSCALES scans the message, clusters it with similar emails, and evaluates it using Adaptive AI and community insights. The platform integrates with SIEM, SOAR, XDR, and EDR systems to support incident response workflows.[2][9]

Red Teaming Agent runs the same OSINT reconnaissance attackers run, pulling from social media, press releases, job postings, and vendor relationships. Red Teaming Agent generates attack simulations from what it finds. Phishing SOC Agent delivers L2-level forensics in minutes and runs five analysis tracks in parallel: sender verification, body analysis for social engineering, link inspection through the full redirect chain, attachment detonation across 100+ engines, and relay path tracing. Phishing Simulation Agent gathers OSINT on people, including social media profiles, data breach exposure, and recent job changes, and builds simulations that mirror the tactics targeting the organization.[6][10]

The platform incorporates Human Risk Management: phishing simulation, security awareness training, and user risk scoring modules that automatically tailor simulations to each employee's specific threat profile. IRONSCALES offers a GPT-powered spear phishing module for VIPs and frequently targeted employees. IRONSCALES experts handle email threat investigation, remediation, and AI tuning on the customer's behalf.[2][11][12]

Deepfake Protection analyzes voice independently of video, so it catches impersonation even when cameras are off. Protected identity profiles build automatically from normal meeting activity, with no manual uploads and no IT involvement. Outbound email encryption is elective or policy-based, with AES-256 encryption in transit and at rest. Hosted DMARC, SPF, and DKIM come with automated policy enforcement, SPF record flattening, and continuous monitoring with detailed authentication reports. Account takeover protection detects unauthorized access attempts to Microsoft user accounts to prevent data breaches, internal BEC attacks, and ransomware.[10][12]

IRONSCALES was founded in 2014 by alumni of the Israel Defense Forces' Intelligence Technology unit. IRONSCALES is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and Tel Aviv, Israel. Series B funding of $8 million was led by Jump Capital, bringing total financing to $16 million since 2015. Series C funding of $64 million was led by PSG, bringing total financing to $80 million since 2015. Organizations worldwide are served both directly and through a network of more than 3,500 managed service provider (MSP) partners. For schools, the AI trains on actual attacks that target K-12 and higher education environments.[2][3][5][6][7][10][12][14][15][16]

IRONSCALES on the record

Sources

IRONSCALES full record

  1. [1]About usIRONSCALES · ironscales.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Platform | How It WorksIRONSCALES · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]Ironscales raises series c funding roundIRONSCALES · ironscales.com · published December 7, 2021 · Tier A
  4. [4]Ironscales ipoForge Global · forgeglobal.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier C
  5. [5]AI Email Security Platform for Phishing & Deepfakes | IronscalesIRONSCALES · undated page, accessed October 25, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Email Security AgentsIRONSCALES · undated page, accessed October 25, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]IRONSCALES | Complete Email Security & Training SolutionsIRONSCALES · undated page, accessed October 25, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]IRONSCALES Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features - G2G2 · undated page, accessed October 25, 2026 · Tier C
  9. [9]SOC Automation SolutionIRONSCALES · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Platform | What's NewIRONSCALES · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Platform | Human ElementIRONSCALES · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Pricing | IronscalesIRONSCALES · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]IRONSCALES | About Us | Our StoryIRONSCALES · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]Education Email Security Solutions | IRONSCALESIRONSCALES · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Augment your Secure Email Gateway with IRONSCALESIRONSCALES · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]DMARC Management and MonitoringIRONSCALES · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A

KnowBe4 full record

  1. [1]About usKnowBe4 · knowbe4.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]Vista equity partners completes acquisition of knowbe4KnowBe4 · knowbe4.com · published February 1, 2023 · Tier A
  3. [3]Contact usKnowBe4 · knowbe4.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]KnowBe4 | Secure Your Digital Workforce: Human + AIKnowBe4 · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  5. [5]KnowBe4 Student Edition | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Warning: Attackers Are Using Calendar Invite Files to Evade Security FiltersKnowBe4 · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]KnowBe4 Launches AI-Native Attack Simulation & Training Product and Twelfth AI AgentBusiness Wire · published May 5, 2026 · Tier A
  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
  11. [11]Pricing | DefendKnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  12. [12]Pricing | Prevent | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  13. [13]Compliance Plus: Compliance Training Platform | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  14. [14]BreachSim | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  15. [15]Weak Password Test | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  16. [16]Security Culture Report Analysis Center | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  17. [17]KnowBe4 Customer Success | KnowBe4KnowBe4 · undated page, accessed November 4, 2026 · Tier A
  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

Spot a factual error? Request a correction.