KnowBe4 January 2026: Fortifying the Human Firewall with Advanced Threat Intelligence & Adaptive Defenses

As we embark on 2026, KnowBe4 is thrilled to build upon the unprecedented success of 2025, a year that saw record-breaking engagement and quality ratings across our platform. This remarkable achievement was largely driven by a significant strategic shift among our partners: a heightened emphasis on frequent, comprehensive security awareness training. Organizations are now engaging with a broader spectrum of content, fostering deeper user immersion and demonstrably improving their overall security posture. We extend our profound gratitude to our customers whose invaluable partnership and feedback continue to propel our mission to deliver even higher quality and impact in the evolving cybersecurity landscape.

“Useful information, not only for work but for personal purposes. I will definitely pass what I've learned on to family and friends!”

“Very good reminders; I've experienced some of these situations recently.”

Elevating Human-Centric Defenses: January 2026 Core Content Modules

Our latest content releases are meticulously designed to address the most sophisticated and prevalent threat vectors targeting the human element – the cornerstone of any robust cybersecurity strategy. By integrating cutting-edge research into behavioral psychology and advanced threat actor methodologies, these modules equip users with actionable intelligence and defense mechanisms.

Social Engineering Foundations (Updated Training Module): This refreshed module delves into the intricate psychology underpinning social engineering manipulation. Users will gain a deep understanding of cognitive biases and emotional triggers exploited by threat actors, learning practical, resilience-building strategies to identify and neutralize common scams in both professional and personal contexts. It emphasizes dissecting the attacker's modus operandi to predict and preempt their next move.
Social Engineering Awareness for Energy and Utilities (NEW Mobile-First Module): Recognizing the unique and critical infrastructure vulnerabilities, this specialized module targets energy and utilities workers. It provides tailored insights into social engineering attacks, sophisticated phishing campaigns, and ransomware tactics specifically designed to compromise operational technology (OT) and critical infrastructure systems. The mobile-first design ensures accessibility for field personnel.

Proactive Deepfake & Synthetic Media Threat Mitigation

The proliferation of generative AI has ushered in a new era of sophisticated deception. Our new module directly confronts this emerging threat:

Deepfake Awareness and Defense (NEW Mobile-First Module): This essential training empowers users to defend against increasingly convincing AI-powered deepfake attacks. Through interactive scenarios, participants learn to identify synthetic media across various attack vectors, including financial fraud, targeted phishing, and influence operations. The module provides practical verification protocols and forensic techniques to ascertain media provenance and authenticity.

Fortifying the Digital Perimeter: Application Security & Privileged Access

Secure application development and stringent privileged access management are non-negotiable in mitigating enterprise risk. Our new offerings cater to these critical areas:

Secure Application Development for Back-End Developers (NEW Training Module): This module provides back-end developers with essential security fundamentals. It covers critical practices for secure architecture design, robust security testing, cryptographic best practices, database protection, and API security, ensuring comprehensive safeguarding of enterprise applications. Emphasis is placed on OWASP Top 10 considerations and secure SDLC integration.
Secure Application Development for Front-End Developers (NEW Training Module): Geared towards front-end developers, this training focuses on secure coding essentials. Participants master OWASP considerations, client-side security testing methods, and best practices to build robust, protected applications from the ground up, mitigating cross-site scripting (XSS), cross-site request forgery (CSRF), and other common vulnerabilities.
Privileged User Security: Privileged Access (NEW Training Module): Essential security training for individuals with elevated system permissions. This module focuses on mastering core principles of Privileged Access Management (PAM), including least privilege, just-in-time access, and session monitoring, to defend against cybercriminals specifically targeting an organization's most vulnerable access points.

Gamified Learning & Psychological Threat Profiling

Engaging content is key to retention. Our January updates include innovative formats to enhance learning:

Phish or Treat? Smishing Edition (NEW Game): This interactive game tests scam-spotting skills in realistic, scenario-based environments. Users assist a traveling manager, Alex, in distinguishing genuine urgent messages from sophisticated smishing (SMS phishing) scams, making critical decisions under pressure to avoid compromise.
encryptED: Dark Minds Behind Digital Threats (NEW Audiocast): Hosted by Andy, this compelling audiocast explores the criminal psyche in cybersecurity. It examines Dark Triad personality traits (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy) through real-world case studies, revealing why understanding the psychology of threat actors is a crucial component of strengthening defensive strategies and developing predictive threat intelligence.

OSINT & Digital Forensics: Advanced Telemetry and Threat Attribution

Understanding the digital footprint of threats is paramount for effective defense and incident response. Our content reinforces this:

Public Wi-Fi Dangers (NEW Poster): A vital reminder for employees to verify the legitimacy of public Wi-Fi networks before connecting. This poster highlights the risks of man-in-the-middle attacks, data interception, and serves as a foundational element for broader network reconnaissance awareness. In scenarios involving suspicious links or potential spear-phishing attempts, a researcher might leverage tools for advanced telemetry collection. For instance, when investigating the source of a sophisticated attack or analyzing a suspicious URL, platforms like grabify.org can be utilized to collect crucial metadata such as target IP addresses, User-Agent strings, ISP details, and device fingerprints. This data is invaluable for initial link analysis, threat actor attribution, and understanding the network footprint of a potential adversary. It provides critical context for digital forensics, aiding in the identification of attack vectors and the development of targeted countermeasures. Researchers are reminded to always adhere to ethical guidelines and legal frameworks when employing such tools for investigative purposes.

Empowering the Next Generation: Student-Focused Security & Safety

Extending our reach beyond the enterprise, KnowBe4 is committed to fostering a secure digital future for students:

Artificial Intelligence for Students (NEW Training Module): This module navigates the future of AI confidently. Students gain an essential understanding of artificial intelligence tools, ethical challenges, deepfake risks, and safe, responsible usage practices crucial for academic success and future careers.
Break the Cycle: How Students Recognize and Stop Hazing (NEW Training Module): While not directly cyber-related, this module is critical for fostering holistic safety within campus communities. It empowers students to recognize and prevent hazing, offering bystander intervention techniques, explaining physical and psychological impacts, and detailing reporting mechanisms. This promotes a culture of vigilance and responsibility that extends to all forms of risk.

Operational Transparency & Strategic Foresight: KnowBe4 Platform Enhancements

Our commitment to continuous innovation is reflected in our platform updates and increased transparency:

NEW! Quarterly Product Update Videos: Stay abreast of the latest features and improvements across the KnowBe4 ecosystem. The December 2025 updates for KSAT and PhishER provide comprehensive overviews of new functionalities designed to enhance your security awareness programs and incident response capabilities. These videos are crucial for maximizing your investment in the KnowBe4 platform.
- KSAT Quarterly Product Update (December 2025): Link to KSAT Update
- PhishER Quarterly Product Update (December 2025): Link to PhishER Update
NEW! KnowBe4's Public Product Roadmap: We are proud to introduce our public product roadmap, offering a high-level view of planned enhancements and new capabilities. This roadmap reflects our ongoing innovation, evolving in response to emerging threats, your specific needs, and shifts in the broader cybersecurity landscape. Our unwavering focus remains on reducing human risk and empowering users to make smarter security decisions. While timelines and scope are subject to agile adjustments, this transparency enables you to align your security initiatives with our strategic direction. Check out the roadmap here: KnowBe4 Product Roadmap.

The January 2026 content updates underscore KnowBe4's dedication to providing cutting-edge, relevant, and impactful security awareness training. We invite you to explore these new resources and experience firsthand how they can significantly strengthen your organization's defenses against an increasingly complex threat landscape. Request your demo today to unlock the full potential of the KnowBe4 platform!

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