TAMPA BAY, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Perry Carpenter, former Research Director, Security & Risk Management and esteemed analyst at Gartner, has joined KnowBe4 as Chief Evangelist and Strategy Officer. As the provider of the most popular platform for security awareness training and simulated phishing, KnowBe4 developed this new role to strengthen innovation and lead efforts to evolve how the human element of security is approached. Carpenter brings a unique point of view to help KnowBe4 and its customers achieve an even higher degree of success and effectiveness.
“KnowBe4 is very happy to welcome Perry. He has personally run security awareness and culture transformation programs at multiple Fortune 500 organizations, covered and analyzed the entirety of the market and helped security leaders globally with these programs while at Gartner,” said Stu Sjouwerman, CEO of KnowBe4. “His keen insight will help us continue our extraordinary momentum and increase our efforts with larger enterprises.”
Prior to joining KnowBe4, Carpenter served as Research Director, Security and Risk Management at Gartner, closely covering several security markets including information security technologies, security training technologies and CISO perspectives on purchasing. Carpenter has also had information security roles at Alltel Telecommunications, Fidelity Information Services and Walmart, giving him the user experience and understanding of the people in information security. Carpenter will take this knowledge and apply it to his role at KnowBe4.
“KnowBe4’s passion for improving end-user security behavior and constant commitment to their customers is a driving factor in my choice to work with this company. Many security awareness program managers feel like they are in over their heads. I'll be focusing some of my time on helping to setup CISOs and security awareness managers for success. In many ways, this translates into a set of broad best practices that are product independent,” said Carpenter. “My time at Gartner has given me a unique perspective on the challenges that many customers are facing, opportunities that can be seized via innovative partnerships and integrations, and how this market can empower security leaders to make their employees an effective last line of defense.”
KnowBe4’s recent efforts to drive growth in new-school security awareness training have landed it at #139 on the Inc 500 list, # 50 on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 and #38 on the Cybersecurity Ventures Cybersecurity 500. Focusing on the human element, new-school security awareness training, has seen significant growth over the past five years because it’s more effective than the old break room approach. Users see Phish-prone percentages go from an average of 15 to 20 percent down to one to two percent after a year.
About KnowBe4
KnowBe4, the provider of the world’s most popular integrated new school security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, is used by more than 8,500 organizations worldwide. Founded by data and IT security expert Stu Sjouwerman, KnowBe4 helps organizations address the human element of security by raising awareness of ransomware, CEO Fraud and other social engineering tactics through a new school approach to security awareness training. Kevin Mitnick, internationally recognized computer security expert and KnowBe4’s Chief Hacking Officer, helped design KnowBe4’s trainings based on his well-documented social engineering tactics. Thousands of organizations trust KnowBe4 to mobilize their end-users as the last line of corporate IT defense.
