Cofense PhishMe vs. KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training

It's a very apt tool for the scenario where there are multiple users and verticals in an organisation. Phishing Campaigns and recording their response actions is quite easier through this tool. Not suitable for a small organization (less than 500) that can maybe use some open tools or self-made emails for campaigns.

Incentivized

I don't have any frame of reference for comparison, but the training that I have used has proved impactful for my staff. Since starting KnowBe4 training, we've seen a great increase in the number of phishing attempts, but also a great increase in the number of attempts that have been recognized by staff, and we have thus not been the victim of phishing or other cyberattact vectors

Incentivized

• Easy to Navigate GUI - easy to create and run scenarios
• In depth reporting - Ability to provide detailed reports by department, title, etc. for follow-up training
• Adoption of new technology - new additions such as Responsive Delivery and Recipient Sync allow less overhead for running scenarios
• Introduction of new templates - new templates being introduced all the time to keep up with currently seen campaigns

Incentivized

• Phish tests can be set to various difficulty levels as staff becomes more knowledgeable in catching phish emails.
• Automated phish tests and training save a lot of admin time. The product can also test for phone and USB stick practices.
• The phish alert button in Outlook, along with PhishER and PhishFlip allow easy managing and response to actual phishing emails.
• The interactive training is well designed to cover all types of phishing and safe email and phone behavior.

Incentivized

• Many of the URLs come in with an unknown reputation and although it may be challenging from threat intel feeds, somehow allowing a more in-depth analysis of the URL can provide better/quicker decision making or validation.
• Adjustable widgets for reporting, although the provided are already built very well.
• Provide in-house templates or summaries of actionable items, such as a single brief on a major phish.

Incentivized

• Campaign settings are overwhelming and non-intuitive
• While the domains available for sending phishing emails are numerous, they are still often obviously fake
• Certain features are locked away behind paid addons, when they should be incorporated in the base tool/licence, e.g. PhishER. It's fine that, for example, Compliance+ is an added feature, but PhishER is practically integral to the task KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training performs

Incentivized

I chose 8 because Microsoft has a version of software bundled in Azure that may fulfill our needs. If this software does not measure up then we will be continuing with Knowbe4. They keep their offerings fresh so training is not redundant this is important when asking for engagement from employees

Incentivized

Its built with UX in mind and is aimed at non-tech people, to ensure that almost everyone can run the campaign. But if we go deeper - sometimes you will need an HTML editor or support in order to figure out some advanced edits you might want to add in your scenarios.

Incentivized

The training videos we have access to are high quality, and provide a wide variety. The Inside Man videos has a cult following within our organization, and has driven a much greater interest in security awareness. And KB4's willingness to negotiate pricing for us as a nonprofit has been very valuable to us as well.

Incentivized

There have only been a handful of outages in the 2 years we have had the product. Even during those instances, parts of the system were still operational

Incentivized

Pages load quickly, filter/sort quickly, and don't slow down or freeze. Everything is smooth and very easy to use. There are a places in the UI where you can forget how to get there, but other than that everything is great. We have had no issues using any part of the website.

Incentivized

I have not had to use their support for pretty much anything. The software works well, and is very intuitive. I would imagine their support would be rather basic as there is not too much that can go wrong with a report phishing button, and if it were I would probably consider a different software.

Incentivized

Tech prod support is great! I did have to ask for a new customer success rep, needed a more experienced person to match my 12 years of experience running Cybersec training programs. Would suggest that more matching of rep level of knowledge to client level knowledge would help.

Incentivized

Helpful and knowledgeable account managers have helped us navigate and use the system to our full potential

Incentivized

It's a must, even if you are never going to use the tool. Cofense aims to provide phishing training first and tool second.

Incentivized

confusing question. I inherited this application so I didnt get any formal training other than the person who was leaving. The CSM provided some later on when I asked in a zoom call

There are some hiccups, but there are meant to be, when you implement something in a large scale enterprise.

Incentivized

The implementation went really well and KnowBe4 was there the whole time on setup to make sure things were setup correctly. The only thing we had to figure out on our own was to script users automatically being added to security groups. So that when they sync to knowBe4 from AD they are placed into the same/correct groups.

Incentivized

PhishMe is a market leader in terms of phishing simulation solutions. The customization appears unmatched when compared with competitors and the support we have experienced from Cofense has been excellent. Phish me offers lots of realistic templates which are updated regularly which is far ahead of other solutions. Phish me also provides lots of detailed statistics as well as high-level numbers which are really useful for some clients who want details, and others who only want high-level overviews.

Incentivized

KnowBe4 offered a significantly more favorable cost-benefit ratio compared to other solutions. Its seamless integration with our existing infrastructure—particularly Active Directory and email systems—was the most compatible with our operational and security requirements.

Incentivized

The product scales greatly. As long as you upgrade the license to support the number of users you are needing, adding in those new users is easy. Also getting those users set up with trainings/campaigns is very easy as well

Incentivized

• From a normal user's perspective, it's an easy and fast, very very user-friendly phishing email reporting structure. No need to remember any email address, no need for sophisticated handling of malicious emails while sending/ reporting. Just a click and it is done.
• From the admin and analyst point of view: Easy and clutter-free triaging pane, IOC reputation check facility, Rules and Recipes section for automation and focused triaging, Notification to the reporter based on the triaging done is really a helpful feedback loop.
• Overall: Simple to handle, less learning curve, well managed, less administration time, fewer issues, less maintenance time.

Incentivized

• There is really no way one can make all the needed trainings with in house resources anymore! The cost for this would be way way more than that of any platform!
• There is no way to even calculate the damage a company would suffer in case of a cybersecurity breach! So the cost for the use of the KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training platform if minimal compared to that of a possible breach!
• The cost of creating content for security awareness training is no longer realistic for a company. This is really no option, and it is in no way comparable to the cost of access to the training material available in the KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training platform. Also the training content needs to be constantly updated!

Incentivized