Company Overview
About KnowBe4
KnowBe4 is a cybersecurity company headquartered in Tampa, Florida that operates the world's largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, serving over 65,000 organizations across 11 million users. Founded in 2010 by Stu Sjouwerman, the company was built on the thesis that the human element — employees who click phishing links, reuse passwords, and inadvertently install malware — represents the primary attack vector in the majority of successful breaches, and that continuous, measurable security awareness training combined with simulated phishing exercises is the most effective way to reduce this human risk. KnowBe4 went public in 2021 and was taken private by Vista Equity Partners in 2023 in a transaction valued at approximately $4.6 billion.
Business Model & Competitive Advantage
KnowBe4's platform delivers security awareness training through a library of thousands of content modules — interactive e-learning courses, compliance training videos, security tip newsletters, and gamified assessments — that organizations assign to employees based on role, department, and risk profile. The simulated phishing component sends employees realistic phishing emails drawn from KnowBe4's extensive template library of current threat actor lures and measures click rates, credential entry, and attachment opens, routing employees who fail simulations directly into targeted training interventions rather than waiting for the next scheduled training cycle. The platform's PhishER module provides a security operations capability for managing and triaging actual phishing emails that employees report through the integrated PhishAlarm button, reducing the analyst time required to process real-world phishing reports.
Competitive Landscape 2025–2026
KnowBe4's Human Risk Management platform aggregates training completion rates, phishing simulation performance, and risk behavior indicators into a per-user Risk Score that security teams use to identify high-risk individuals and departments requiring targeted intervention. The company's research arm, KnowBe4 Research, publishes quarterly phishing industry benchmarks and top-clicked phishing test reports that have made the company a recognized authority on human-layer threat intelligence. KnowBe4 competes with Proofpoint Security Awareness Training, Mimecast Awareness Training, and Hoxhunt in the security awareness market.
Open Positions
Reddit Discussions
Key Differentiators
Market Leader
KnowBe4 is recognized as a market leader in the Cybersecurity sector, demonstrating strong industry presence and customer trust.
Frequently Asked Questions
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