Security Awareness Training Blog

Keeping You Informed. Keeping You Aware.
Stay on top of the latest in security including social engineering, ransomware and phishing attacks.

Stu Sjouwerman

Chief Executive Officer & President

Stu Sjouwerman (pronounced “shower-man”) is the founder and CEO of KnowBe4, Inc., which hosts the world’s most popular integrated security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, with over 54,000 organization customers and more than 50 million users. A serial entrepreneur and data security expert with 30 years in the IT industry, Stu was the co-founder of Inc. 500 company Sunbelt Software, a multiple award-winning anti-malware software company that was acquired in 2010.


Recent Posts

Why Are Insurance Companies Insisting To Pay Ransom For Ransomware Attacks?

This week, ProPublica published a report describing how insurance companies now prefer to fork over hundreds of thousands of dollars / pounds / Euros in ransom to minimize the detriment ...
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Financial Phishing Campaigns on the Rise

More than 1900 new potential bank phishing sites were registered in the first half of 2019, according to researchers at NormShield. Based on the increase in new suspicious domains ...
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Business Detections of Ransomware Attacks Have Grown by 365%

The latest data from Malwarebyte’s report Cybercrime Tactics and Techniques: Ransomware Retrospective shows businesses are at risk of ransomware attack now more than ever.
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MegaCortex Ransomware goes Fully Automated, Putting Enterprises at Risk of Ransoms in the Millions

A new version of MegaCortex has been spotted, upgrading it from a manual, targeted form of ransomware, to one that can be spread and do damage enterprise-wide.
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Microsoft, PayPal, and Facebook are the Top Three Impersonated Brands

Back in June, we discussed Vade Secure’s “Phisher’s Favorite” report for Q1 2019, which found that Microsoft had been the most impersonated brand used in phishing attacks for four ...
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Bogus Suicide Prevention as a Scam

A lowlife Colorado bail bondsman named Matthew Marre repeatedly posed as a law enforcement officer to trick T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon into giving him GPS data for his targets’ phones, ...
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SANS: Security Awareness Training is On the Rise

Providing users with Security Awareness Training is a critical part of a security strategy. According to the latest data from SANS, more organizations are using awareness training in 2019.
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Even ‘Unsubscribe’ Emails Can Put the Organization at Risk

Social Engineering tactics seek to use any means that’s familiar to the intended victim – and unsubscribing is perceived as being so benign, it may just be the perfect way to fool your ...
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U.S. Utilities Face Phishing Attacks Intent on Gaining Remote Access

Last month saw a number of utility sector businesses targeted with spear phishing attacks that utilize a new remote access Trojan (RAT) that provides attackers with admin access.
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Georgia Gov. Kemp Orders Cybersecurity Training For State Employees After Crippling Attacks

StateScoop reports: "Citing several recent ransomware attacks at the state and local levels, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp this week issued an executive order instructing state employees to ...
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A State-of-the-Art Spoof  (or, Why Turning Your Users Into Grammar Nazis Won't Keep the Bad Guys Out)

By Eric Howes, KnowBe4 Principal Lab Researcher. Malicious actors are becoming very skilled at exploiting popular online services that enjoy the familiarity and trust of millions of ...
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Please Vote For KnowBe4: Computing Security Awards

We're excited to be a finalist for the 2019 Computing Security Awards in the UK! They are inviting everyone to vote for their favorite vendors. It would be highly appreciated if you could ...
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Lateral Phishing Affects One in Seven Organizations

A survey by Barracuda found that one in seven organizations experienced lateral phishing attacks over the course of seven months, and that 42% of these attacks were not reported by ...
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Social Engineering Used To Establish Shady Bulletproof Hosting

Brian Krebs has reported that a dubious Internet provider, “Resnet,” was renting out tens of thousands of residential IP addresses to be used as proxies by fraudsters and spammers. ...
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Ransomware Hits Fortnite Players

DarkReading reports: "Ransomware masquerading as game "cheats" is hitting Fortnite players. Fortunately, there are ways to recover without paying a ransom." Similar to phishing attacks on ...
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Employee Error Behind Half of Industrial Network Incidents

A new report by Kaspersky shows that employee mistakes are the leading cause of industrial cybersecurity incidents. Last year, 52% of such incidents were the result of human error.
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Is The Ransomware Debate Over? To Pay Or Not To Pay, The Conference Of Mayors Made Up Their Mind

The long-standing argument over whether or not to pay may have come to an end, with a resolution from the U.S. Conference of Mayors calling on cities to not pay up.
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Gift Cards Are Now the #1 Business Email Compromise Cash-Out Mechanism for Fraudsters

Overtaking wire transfers and payroll diversion, gift cards have taken a material lead as one of the easiest and least recoverable ways to cash out of a fraud scam.
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U.S. Government Stresses the Need for Cybersecurity Awareness and Education in Light of Ransomware Attacks on Government Entities

In light of the recent string of attacks that seem to be targeting government agencies and municipalities, a new multi-agency press release provides guidance on how to be resilient.
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