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Phishing Simulator KnowBe4 Acquires South Africa Security Training Firm

Anna Collard
Anna Collard
KnowBe4 CEO Stu Sjouwerman

KnowBe4, a security awareness training and simulated phishing platform provider, has acquired South African security training firm Popcorn Training for an undisclosed sum.

Popcorn will operate as an independent subsidiary of KnowBe4, according to a prepared statement. In addition, KnowBe4 will acquire 52 Popcorn training modules as part of the transaction.

KnowBe4 plans to leverage Popcorn's training modules to create unique security awareness content for its customers, KnowBe4 CEO Stu Sjouwerman said. The Popcorn acquisition also enables KnowBe4 to extend its global footprint into South Africa.

Popcorn now can expand its offering and integrate with KnowBe4's phishing and training solutions, Popcorn CEO Anne Collard stated. The company intends to build content and solutions that are applicable to the African market, Collard noted, and continue to grow.

KnowBe4 and Popcorn: Here's What You Need to Know

KnowBe4 offers a security awareness training and simulated phishing platform that is used by more than 16,000 organizations worldwide. The platform is increasingly popular with MSPs in the SMB and midmarket sector, according to MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E readers. The platform is available to channel partners, enterprises and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and helps end users address social engineering attacks.

Also, KnowBe4 provides many free security awareness training tools, and these include:

  • Awareness Program Builder: Provide organizations with the steps needed to create a mature security awareness training program.
  • Domain Spoof Test: Ensures organizations can launch a simulated "CEO fraud" spear-phishing attack and determine the best way to defend against this type of attack.
  • Phishing Security Test: Enables organizations to find out what percentage of their employees are prone to phishing attacks.
  • Ransomware Simulator Tool: Simulates 13 ransomware infection scenarios and shows organizations if any workstations are vulnerable to infections.
  • Weak Password Test: Checks an organization's Active Directory for several different types of weak password-related threats.

Popcorn is a security awareness training provider based in South Africa with a global customer base. The company offers a cyber strength personality quiz designed to help users understand their security strengths and weaknesses and potential risks that they may face.

Furthermore, Popcorn provides phishing simulations that enable organization to create, configure and run phishing campaigns. These simulations allow organizations to expose users to phishing attacks in the course of their everyday work activities and measure the performance of security training initiatives.

Dan Kobialka

Dan Kobialka is senior contributing editor, MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E. He covers IT security, IT service provider business strategies and partner programs. Dan holds a M.A. in Print and Multimedia Journalism from Emerson College and a B.A. in English from Bridgewater State University. In his free time, Dan enjoys jogging, traveling, playing sports, touring breweries and watching football.