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.

Books

Cyberheist E-Book

Find all of Stu's books on Amazon

The Pope, Puff Jackets and Money going POOF!

Mar 29, 2023 4:40:39 PM By Stu Sjouwerman

You have probably seen it. Pope Francis in a designer puff jacket. It fooled millions of people. Culture writer Ryan Broderick called it the “first real mass-level AI misinformation case.”

Australian Police Arrest Business Email Compromise (BEC) Operators

Mar 29, 2023 8:43:18 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) have arrested four alleged members of an organized crime group known for carrying out business email compromise (BEC) attacks, BleepingComputer ...

The FBI's Public Service Warning of Business Email Compromise

Mar 29, 2023 8:01:52 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

The US FBI is warning of business email compromise (BEC) attacks designed to steal physical goods. While BEC attacks are typically associated with stealing money, criminals can use the ...

[Eyes Only] New Deepfake Pr0n Site Visits Skyrocket

Mar 28, 2023 10:39:31 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

This is a disgusting topic. It's also a very high social engineering risk. I will keep this post safe-for-work, which is not easy. NBC news just reported on the deepfake economy surging ...

CyberheistNews Vol 13 #13 [Eye Opener] How to Outsmart Sneaky AI-Based Phishing Attacks

Mar 28, 2023 9:00:00 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

CyberheistNews Vol 13 #13 | March 28th, 2023 [Eye Opener] How to Outsmart Sneaky AI-Based Phishing Attacks Users need to adapt to an evolving threat landscape in which attackers can use ...

KnowBe4 Debuts Season 5 of Netflix-Style Security Awareness Series - ‘The Inside Man’

Mar 28, 2023 8:00:00 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

We’re thrilled to announce the long-awaited fifth season of the award-winning KnowBe4 Original Series - “The Inside Man” is now available in the KnowBe4ModStore!

Oversharing Is a Risk to Information Security

Mar 27, 2023 1:54:56 PM By Stu Sjouwerman

Younger employees need to be wary of oversharing company information on social media, according to John Karabin, senior director of cybersecurity at NTT Ltd. In an article for ...

New Vendor Email Compromise Attack Seeks $36 Million

Mar 24, 2023 11:03:14 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

The details in this thwarted VEC attack demonstrate how the use of just a few key details can both establish credibility and indicate the entire thing is a scam.

Ransomware Data Theft Extortion Goes up 40% to 70% From ‘21 to ’22

Mar 24, 2023 8:15:00 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

A report from Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 found that data theft extortion occurred in 70% of ransomware attacks in 2022, compared to 40% in 2021. The researchers examined the four most ...

Users Clicking on Multiple Mobile Phishing Links Increases 637% in Just Two Years

Mar 23, 2023 8:13:58 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

New data shows that phishing mobile devices as an attack vector is growing in popularity – mostly because it’s increasingly working... in exponential terms.

Cyber Insurers Quietly Remove Coverage for Social Engineering and Fraudulent Instruction Claims

Mar 23, 2023 8:13:56 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

As cyber insurers become more experienced in what kinds of claims are being presented, and the threat action details therein, specific types of coverages are no longer being included.

Half of Organizations Report at Least Monthly Outages from Cyberattacks

Mar 23, 2023 8:13:51 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

New data on the current state of cybersecurity shows that organizations are experiencing challenges, falling behind, and seeing the impact of all this post-attack.

Facebook and Microsoft Top the List of Most Impersonated Brands in 2022

Mar 23, 2023 8:13:49 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

As scammers continue to see massive returns on their phishing attacks, the use of impersonation with well-known brands continues to circle around the dominant players.

When a USB Flash Drive is Actually a Bomb

Mar 22, 2023 9:52:30 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

A journalist based in Ecuador recently used a USB flash drive that was actually a legitimate bomb.

Identifying AI-Enabled Phishing

Mar 22, 2023 9:52:28 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Users need to adapt to an evolving threat landscape in which attackers can use AI tools like ChatGPT to craft extremely convincing phishing emails, according to Matthew Tyson at CSO.

An Overview of Silicon Valley Bank Themed Social Engineering

Mar 21, 2023 10:21:00 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Researchers at ReliaQuest warn that organizations should continue to be on the lookout for social engineering attacks related to Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).

CyberheistNews Vol 13 #12 [Heads Up] This Week's New SVB Meltdown Social Engineering Attacks

Mar 21, 2023 9:00:00 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

CyberheistNews Vol 13 #12 | March 21st, 2023 [Heads Up] This Week's New SVB Meltdown Social Engineering Attacks On Saturday March 11, I warned about the coming wave of phishing attacks ...

[Eye Popper] The AI Genie Has Escaped: Stanford copied ChatGPT for a few hundred bucks

Mar 20, 2023 10:52:53 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Yikes. Loz Blain at NewAtlas just reported that Stanford has copied the ChatGPT AI for less than $600. The article started out with: "Stanford's Alpaca AI performs similarly to the ...

Report Shows Business Email Compromise (BEC) Attacks Increase and Phishing Used as Initial Attack Vector in the Last Year

Mar 20, 2023 10:08:42 AM By Stu Sjouwerman

Secureworks has published a report looking at cybercrime over the course of 2022, finding that business email compromise (BEC) attacks nearly doubled last year. Additionally, attacks in ...

Warning Customers About Social Engineering.

Mar 18, 2023 1:58:48 PM By Stu Sjouwerman

It’s a familiar story: scam artists impersonate a trusted brand, a trusted business or a trusted authority in emails and on bogus sites designed to exploit that very trust to commit ...

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