KnowBe4 Announces Competitive Upgrade To Combat Ineffective Phishing Training Tools

KnowBe4 Offers Security Awareness Training Company Customers a Way Out with Competitive Upgrade to Combat Sophisticated Spear-phishing Attacks

In an aggressive move, KnowBe4, an IT security company, announced a special competitive upgrade today for those organizations stuck in a contract with a security awareness training company and are are not getting results from their existing anti-phishing efforts. KnowBe4 is offering organizations its Kevin Mitnick Security Awareness Training 2015 (which includes unlimited simulated phishing emails) at a 50% discount of what they pay now in response to multiple requests from companies who have been using other tools without the expected results.

Stu Sjouwerman, CEO of KnowBe4 stated, “If you’re not seeing your Phish-prone percentage go down, it is time for a change. Otherwise, you are exposing your network to unnecessary risk. IT managers know the weakest link in IT security is the end user, but not everyone has an effective security awareness training solution in place to prevent threats before they occur. We have been getting numerous reports from customers of our competitors who say they have a great phishing assessment tool but they are not seeing any tangible results or improvements in the Phish-prone percentage of their employees.”

KnowBe4 is offering to absorb current contracts up to a year (adding the remaining time left onto a new contract) and is offering fifty percent off what companies are currently paying, making it easy for enterprise clients to switch.

As phishing and social engineering tactics become increasingly sophisticated and difficult to detect, Sjouwerman emphasizes the importance of first educating employees to recognize potential network security threats and second combine the training with frequent simulated phishing attacks to keep users on their toes with security top of mind.

“Cybercriminals are constantly devising cunning new ways to trick users into clicking on their phishing links or opening infected attachments, and their malware continues to evolve. Just look at the recent vicious ransomware strains out in the wild.” warned Sjouwerman. “We are constantly updating our training and phishing templates to reflect the latest tactics and we get measurable results.”

Kevin Mitnick Security Awareness Training 2015 includes multiple training modules, multiple options for access, easy tools for the admin like summary information about your phishing security tests, Top Clickers, detailed reports on who started, completed, incomplete, CSV formats for download, bubble graphs with number of clicks per hour, detailed filters and custom templates you can clone, edit and send to users. Also included are custom landing pages where users can be directed to after clicking on a test link.

The training allows IT managers variable scheduling options to avoid the “prairie dog effect” where users warn each other not to click on phishing tests so IT can stay on top of growing security concerns, compliance requirements and ensure users are able to apply this knowledge in their day-to-day job. Each case study ends with its own short multiple choice test, a quiz at the end of the training, and trainees get a unique job-aid: Social Engineering Red Flags with 22 things to watch out for.

Afterward, regularly-scheduled phishing security tests with customizable emails help keep employees on their toes. Those users who fall for the simulated phishing attacks can receive instant remedial training. An admin console provides before-and-after reports with instant graphs detailing the effectiveness of the training.

KnowBe4 is the only company that offers a “crypto-ransom guarantee”, and will pay a customer’s ransom using hard to obtain Bitcoin if they still get hit with ransomware after stepping employees through their training and simulated phishing program.

For a full list of features or to learn more visit: www.knowbe4.com or download the datasheet at:https://s3.amazonaws.com/knowbe4.cdn/KMSAT-datasheet-web.pdf

About Stu Sjouwerman and KnowBe4
Stu Sjouwerman (pronounced “shower-man”) is the founder and CEO of KnowBe4, LLC, which provides web-based Security Awareness Training (employee security education and behavior management) to small and medium-sized enterprises. A data security expert with more than 30 years in the IT industry, Sjouwerman was the co-founder of Inc. 500 company Sunbelt Software, an award-winning anti-malware software company that he and his partner sold to GFI Software in 2010. Realizing that the human element of security was being seriously neglected, Sjouwerman decided to help entrepreneurs tackle cybercrime tactics through advanced security awareness training. KnowBe4 services hundreds of customers in a variety of industries, including highly-regulated fields such as healthcare, finance and insurance and is experiencing explosive growth. Sjouwerman is the author of four books, with his latest being Cyberheist: The Biggest Financial Threat Facing American Businesses.

About Kevin Mitnick
Kevin Mitnick is an internationally recognized computer security expert with extensive experience in exposing the vulnerabilities of complex operating systems and telecommunications devices. He gained notoriety as a highly skilled hacker who penetrated some of the most resilient computer systems ever developed. Today, Mitnick is renowned as an information security consultant and speaker, and has authored three books, including The New York Times best seller Ghost in the Wires. His latest endeavor is a collaboration with KnowBe4, LLC.