KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training

Score9.4 out of 10

1,089 Reviews and Ratings

What is KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training?

KnowBe4 is a security awareness and compliance training and simulated social engineering product. It is used by organizations worldwide to strengthen their security culture and reduce human risk.

Categories & Use Cases

Security Awareness Training

Media

Screenshot of the Phishing Dashboard. This displays how end users are doing at-a-glance and in comparison to peers across industries with Industry Benchmarking.

Screenshot of the Virtual Risk Officer functionality, which helps identify risk to support data-driven decisions about a security awareness plan.

Screenshot of KnowBe4's partners, including The Security Awareness Company, Popcorn Training, exploqii, Twist & Shout, El Pescador, CLTRe, Saya University, and MediaPRO. Together, they create security awareness training content available in the ModStore.

Screenshot of a security training quiz question showing "Security Moments Series: Spot the Bad Link" asking what Lisa should do when receiving an unexpected email with an HTML attachment, with three answer options and Submit/Cancel buttons.

Screenshot of the AIDA Phishing Template Generator interface, which displays a customizable phishing simulation tool with template setup options on the left and a preview of a generated "Annual Bonus Announcement" email featuring a QR code attack vector on the right.

Screenshot of the AIDA Configure Training interface, which displays settings for personalized remedial phishing training, including user enrollment options, completion timeframes, knowledge refresher schedules, and notification preferences, with an "Activate Remedial Training" button to implement the configuration.

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Screenshot of the Phishing Dashboard. This displays how end users are doing at-a-glance and in comparison to peers across industries with Industry Benchmarking.

Single sign-on capability
The software system supports a centralized authentication mechanism allowing the user to access multiple systems with a single, centrally managed password.
Category average: 9.4
Phishing Simulations
Administrators can run simulated phishing attacks to test the effectiveness of the training and assess vulnerabilities.
Category average: 9.1
Multilingual Training Content
Training content is available in multiple languages.
Category average: 9.1

Role-based user permissions
Permissions to perform actions or access or modify data are assigned to roles, which are then assigned to users, reducing complexity of administration.
Category average: 8.3
Individualized Security Training Plans
Training can be tailored to individual employees based on previous training, role, or assessed vulnerability.
Category average: 7.9
Industry-Specific Security Training
Security training can be tailored based on industry-specific requirements, such as HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR, etc.
Category average: 7

Most Frequent Users

Top 3 industries using KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training.

Based on HG Insights installation data

View all Reviews

#1 most frequent

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

17.0%

123 installations of 725

#2 most frequent

Manufacturing

14.3%

104 installations of 725

#3 most frequent

Finance and Insurance

11.4%

83 installations of 725

Daven Hunsicker

Technology Director in Information Technology at IC Imagine (51-200 employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I'm the lead admin in my school for KnowBe4. I assign training to new staff and run an automated quarterly phishing test that goes to all of our 160+ staff. Those who fail the phishing test are automatically added to a group that has required remediation training. Since we've been using KnowBe4, our phishing prone score has improved and many staff have been able to successfully avoid phishing scams.

Pros

Automated testing of enrolled staff-we have a quarterly phishing test automated.
Huge library of resources in various formats are available in their library.
Allows multiple ways to create/sync user accounts.

Cons

Many items in the library aren't applicable to our use case, and it's sometimes difficult to filter out what I'm looking for.
I don't love the training dashboard, but maybe that's just a "me" thing.
Setting up groups can be tedious.

Return on Investment

We've had several phishing attempts that were "emergencies" to update banking information that users didn't fall for, so that has saved potentially thousands of dollars.
I don't have specific-hard numbers, but I do believe KnowBe4 has been very valuable to us.

Usability

Other Software Used

CrowdStrike Falcon, Zscaler Internet Access

Verified User

Analyst in Information Technology (501-1000 employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We were using the phish alert training modules after simulated phishing campaigns. Users who failed too many consecutive times were enrolled in additional learning. Phishing remains one of the biggest methods employed by hackers to try to gain access, and people who were not learning how to identify a phish email needed the additional training.

Pros

Quality: Their videos have well recorded audio and a polished look in their animations. I have seen larger orgs use less professional looking learning
Accuracy: I found no fault in the information they had in their training. It's clear that knowledgeable people were involved with the creation of their content
Accessible: Information security can be a very complex topic. They have made easily understood content, making it easier for the users to understand what they need to do

Cons

Some videos were clearly stitched together from other videos. Those lacked the cohesive feel the individual videos had.
Some videos could have brought in some additional points and information to cover a wider variety of user best practices
Some of the live actor segments felt a little cheesy

Return on Investment

The campaign/training cycle showed a declining number of people falling for the campagins
Regularly updated training modules sometimes covered newer threats
Reporting was simple and easy to ingest for management

Usability

Verified User

Employee in Corporate (51-200 employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

My organization primarily uses KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training to train employees on cybersecurity, mostly how to mitigate or avoid phishing attacks, and what to do when we receive a suspicious email. We also have done some training based on general online literacy and guidance on how phishing can cause major issues within the organization that take both time and money to fix.

Pros

Trainings feel accessible to all ages/easy to understand.
Videos are short enough that they keep your attention, but also provide enough information.
Real world examples are used, making the lessons feel more directly applicable to our work environment.

Cons

There could be additional topics included in videos, shifting focus away from just cybersecurity.
Remedial videos could be more directly applicable based on phishing situation.
Videos about AI usage in the workplace partially promote AI, which we aren’t even allowed to use. Would prefer a bit more of a critical viewpoint.

Return on Investment

Helped people across all levels of the company avoid falling for phishing scams.
Helped teach even those with minimal computer literacy to slow down and check all links for safety.

Usability

Verified User

Engineer in Information Technology (201-500 employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use KnowBe4's Security Awareness Training to help engage our staff in cyber security training. We aim to educate the employee and test them by sending "fake" emails to try and trick them into clicking on the links in the email. We also have used their video content to send over Paylocity to train individuals on what to look out for on these types of emails.

Pros

Extensive library content for training including; videos, training tools, and poster downloads.
They keep things simple in an easy to use platform.
Keeps historical data so that you can give extra training to individuals that need extra help identifying spam or phishing.

Cons

It would be great if their library had more options for training videos
The integrations piece into active directory is not the easiest
Creating a campaign could be a bit easier to understand

Return on Investment

When we first started to use KnowBe4 Training our phishing percentage was in the 20% range, now that we have trained our employees, it down to about 2-5% each month.
The ROI starts from the beginning. The more trained the employee is, the better, which in the long run saves money for costs associated with a cyber attack.
People send me emails asking if they are legitimate emails. I would rather have people check with me than to let a cyber attack through.

Usability

Alternatives Considered

Hoxhunt

Other Software Used

NinjaOne, AppRiver from OpenText, Jamf Pro

Verified User

Manager in Information Technology (51-200 employees)

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We leverage the platform's security awareness training library for our annual security awareness campaigns. KnowBe4 addresses our needs to ensure that all our employees are equipped and informed about the latest security threats.

Pros

Diverse training content library
Easy-to-use UI

Cons

Data reporting could be better
API integrated approach with metrics
Quality vs Quantity training content

Return on Investment

Improved audit and compliance posture
Higher employee security awareness

Usability

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KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training

What is KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training?

Categories & Use Cases

Media