CISO Tribune

Vendor comparison · 2 companies

KnowBe4 vs Living Security

KnowBe4 sells attack simulation and training, email and collaboration security, and agent security through the KnowBe4 Platform. Living Security sells a platform that reads signals from the security tools its customers already run to reveal human and agent risk, and guides the response. CISO Tribune files both under Security awareness training 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.

Change the companies

Up to four companies side by side.

  • KnowBe4
  • Living Security
KnowBe4 vs Living Security: Products, Customers and Funding Compared
KnowBe4KnowBe4 sells attack simulation and training, email and collaboration security, and agent security through the KnowBe4 Platform.knowbe4.comLiving SecurityLiving Security sells a platform that reads signals from the security tools its customers already run to reveal human and agent risk, and guides the response.livingsecurity.com
What it sells
  • 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.
  • Livvy[5][10]Livvy proposes the next move, and the customer's team approves it.
  • Phishing simulation[5][7]Phishing simulation aimed by the customer's risk data, not its calendar.
  • Human Risk Management Framework[5]An open framework of 137 signals, open to everyone under CC BY 4.0.
  • Living Security SCIM[8]Account provisioning that follows the SCIM 2.0 standard.
Categories
Headquarters
Clearwater, United StatesAustin, United States[2]
Founded
2010[1]2017[1][4]
Ownership and funding
Owned by Vista Equity Partners since 2023[2][4][8][9]Not stated on its pages
Named customers
Not stated on its pagesNot stated on its pages
Recent news
  • 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]
  • March 24, 2026Living Security announced general availability of its AI-native human risk management platform, which extends risk management to both human employees and AI agents.[9]
  • March 12, 2026Living Security announced that Edna Conway has joined the company as Executive Advisor.[11]
  • January 14, 2026Living Security launched Livvy, an AI intelligence engine for its AI-native human risk management platform, made available in beta.[10]
G2 and Gartner Peer Insights
  • G2: listed, seen November 4, 2026[8]
  • Gartner Peer Insights: listed, seen November 4, 2026[9]
  • G2: Not stated on its pages
  • Gartner Peer Insights: Not stated on its pages
Who it fits
Not written yetFrom its own pages, Living Security sells to organisations that already run security tools, from which it reads signals to reveal human and agent risk. Our reading is that the platform serves security teams that keep the final decision on responses, since approvals stay with the customer's team. The workforce Living Security describes includes people in business functions such as finance, with an accounts payable lead given as an example. Our reading is that Living Security sells to organisations running AI agents alongside people, with every agent held to an accountable owner.
Last verified
September 27, 2026September 27, 2026

Where they overlap

  • KnowBe4 and Living Security are both filed under Security awareness training and Human risk management.
  • Both are headquartered in the United States.

Where they differ, field by field

  • KnowBe4's primary category is Security awareness training; Living Security's is Human risk management.
  • KnowBe4 is also filed under Email security and AI model and agent security.
  • KnowBe4 lists Security Awareness Training, Cloud Email Security, Defend, Prevent, Compliance Plus and 3 more. Living Security lists Livvy, Phishing simulation, Human Risk Management Framework and Living Security SCIM.
  • KnowBe4 is headquartered in Clearwater, United States. Living Security is headquartered in Austin, United States.
  • KnowBe4 was founded in 2010. Living Security was founded in 2017.
  • KnowBe4 is owned by Vista Equity Partners, since 2023.

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.

What it sells: Living Security

What Livvy does[5][10]
Livvy recommends an action for each person, a playbook runs the action, and every result flows back into the Human Risk Index. Livvy can recommend step-up MFA and a credential reset for a person, then a 90-second coaching nudge, and waits for the team's approval. Approvals stay with the customer's team.
What Phishing simulation does[5][7]
Who is being targeted by real attacks, what assets those users can access and how they have behaved in the past go into shaping each test before it goes out. Living Security is launching support for phishing simulations via email and Teams. SMS, voice, and video simulations are on the Living Security near-term roadmap.
What Human Risk Management Framework does[5]
The Living Security map of how risk builds comes from the Human Risk Management Framework, which has 137 signals and is open to everyone under CC BY 4.0. In the map, signals from nine risk domains join into cohorts, cohorts feed sequences, and each sequence heads for a breach scenario.
What Living Security SCIM does[8]
Living Security SCIM follows the SCIM 2.0 standard (RFC 7643 and RFC 7644). SailPoint Identity Security Cloud and IdentityIQ manage Living Security accounts through the SailPoint SCIM 2.0 connector. The schema includes the core user, the Enterprise extension and the Living Security extension.

Questions about KnowBe4 and Living Security

What do KnowBe4 and Living Security sell?
KnowBe4 sells Security Awareness Training, Cloud Email Security, Defend, Prevent, Compliance Plus and 3 more. Living Security sells Livvy, Phishing simulation, Human Risk Management Framework and Living Security SCIM.
Are KnowBe4 and Living Security in the same category?
They share Security awareness training and Human risk management. KnowBe4's primary category is Security awareness training and Living Security's is Human risk management.
Where are KnowBe4 and Living Security headquartered?
KnowBe4 is headquartered in Clearwater, United States. Living Security is headquartered in Austin, United States.
When were KnowBe4 and Living Security founded?
KnowBe4 was founded in 2010. Living Security was founded in 2017.
Who owns KnowBe4 and Living Security?
KnowBe4 is owned by Vista Equity Partners, since 2023.
Who are KnowBe4 and Living Security sold to?
From its own pages, Living Security sells to organisations that already run security tools, from which it reads signals to reveal human and agent risk.
What have KnowBe4 and Living Security announced recently?
May 5, 2026: KnowBe4 launched a two-tier Security Awareness Training offering and a new AI defense agent for custom content creation. March 24, 2026: Living Security announced general availability of its AI-native human risk management platform, which extends risk management to both human employees and AI agents.

About KnowBe4

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.[6]

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.[5][6]

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.[5][10]

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.[5][11]

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.[10][12]

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.[5][13]

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.[14][15][16]

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][13][17]

KnowBe4 on the record

Sources

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

Living Security full record

  1. [1]About usLiving Security · livingsecurity.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  2. [2]ContactLiving Security · livingsecurity.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  3. [3]PlatformLiving Security · livingsecurity.com · undated page, accessed September 27, 2026 · Tier A
  4. [4]Living security strengthens cybersecurity human risk platform with phishing simulation moderator free training and foreign translation support 301277650Living Security via PR Newswire · prnewswire.com · published April 27, 2021 · Tier A
  5. [5]Living Security | AI-native Human Risk ManagementLiving Security · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  6. [6]Microsoft Entra ID integration setup - Living Security PlatformLiving Security · undated page, accessed October 26, 2026 · Tier A
  7. [7]HRMCon 2026: Human Risk Management Conference | Living SecurityLiving Security · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  8. [8]Set up SCIM with SailPoint - Living Security PlatformLiving Security · undated page, accessed November 10, 2026 · Tier A
  9. [9]Living Security Launches AI-Native Human Risk Management PlatformLiving Security · published March 24, 2026 · Tier A
  10. [10]Living Security Launches Livvy, AI-Native Predictive HRM IntelligenceLiving Security · published January 14, 2026 · Tier A
  11. [11]Living Security Welcomes Edna Conway as Executive AdvisorLiving Security · published March 12, 2026 · Tier A

Spot a factual error? Request a correction.