KnowBe4 was founded by Kevin Mitnick, once the FBI’s most wanted hacker, and serial entrepreneur Stu Sjouwerman. Their premise was straightforward: the best security technology in the world doesn’t matter if employees keep clicking phishing links. Train the humans.
The platform delivers simulated phishing campaigns, interactive training modules, and real-time coaching. Admins can send realistic phishing emails to employees, track who clicks, and automatically enroll clickers in targeted training. The content library includes thousands of modules in over 35 languages.
KnowBe4 also provides PhishER, a lightweight SOAR tool that helps security teams triage user-reported phishing emails. It uses AI to automatically classify and respond to reported messages, dramatically reducing the workload of phishing response.
The company went public in 2021 and was later taken private by Vista Equity Partners for $4.6 billion. Over 65,000 organizations use KnowBe4, making it the dominant player in security awareness. Studies consistently show that simulated phishing programs reduce click rates by 60% or more over 12 months.
