Cybersecurity has been top of mind for most companies and governments in recent years as ransomware attacks, phishing attacks and denial-of-service (DOS) attacks have increased. The potential disruption to businesses from these kinds of attacks has translated into an increase in cybersecurity spending and there are different companies that help with different aspects of a company’s security infrastructure.
We have all heard various stories of companies falling victim to cybersecurity attacks but my favorite anecdote was of a large private equity firm that was doing due diligence on the security company KnowBe4 (NASDAQ:KNBE). They triggered a test phishing email to its internal staff to see how many would end up falling for the phishing attack. A phishing attack is triggered by malicious actors that want to get money or access to company systems by sending an email to company employees masquerading as someone the employee might know, for example the CEO of the company. Clicking on an attachment or a link in the email, often triggers the “payload” and in other cases the attackers what the employee to respond to them. The private equity firm (KKR if I remember correctly) was shocked by just how many of its employees ended up opening or engaging with the test phishing email they sent through KnowBe4 and ended up investing in the company.
