When thinking about Security Awareness Training, KnowBe4 is one of the names that inevitably come to the forefront of most people’s minds. KnowBe4 was founded in 2010 by Stu Sjouwerman to help employees learn about cybersecurity. At the time of its creation, KnowBe4’s phishing template library and having Kevin Mitnick on board made it an industry leader, but the world has changed a LOT since 2010. When KnowBe4 was founded the vast majority of people still went into the office every day. Most business communication was done over email instead of Slack or Teams. Tools companies used were installed as software on a device instead of the cloud-based SaaS model that’s dominant today. Security awareness training was often seen as something companies had to do to check a box, not to improve security.

Now, remote/hybrid is the new normal way of working and off-premise security is more important than securing a job site. SaaS applications where you can log in from anywhere have increased flexibility and productivity, but also introduce new risks. There are hundreds of competing security awareness vendors looking to capitalize on the opportunities created by the increase in cyber threats, including Haekka.

Since KnowBe4 was founded, the market for security awareness has shifted from a focus on checking the box to having a vendor that can reduce human risk and improve the overall effectiveness of infosec.

When deciding which security awareness training program to buy, it can be helpful to compare two competing offerings head to head. Given KnowBe4’s market dominance, we thought we’d start by comparing Haekka’s Slack-based platform with KnowBe4’s offering.

Free Security Awareness Training

When we created Haekka we did it to help make the world a safer place by ensuring employees have the knowledge necessary to prevent cybercrime. We fully integrated security awareness training into Slack to make it seamless for employees to take and complete training. That’s why we made our Security Awareness Training completely free for all organizations of any size with no cap on the number of licenses available. Spreading awareness is the best way to secure an organization and we don’t want to lock security awareness behind a paywall.

KnowBe4’s flagship content (Kevin Mitnick Security Awareness Training) is locked behind a paywall. Although people can see a preview of the content on KnowBe4’s website, the entire training is not available without payment.

Complete Slack Integration

Haekka’s Slack-first approach makes us different from other training providers. Haekka’s training is delivered entirely within Slack (with a web option available). Based on customer surveys, security awareness training in Slack reduces training time and increases training completion rates (smart reminders help drive this). With Haekka, it's as simple as installing a Slack app! There's no need to switch to a different application when Haekka meets employees where they already work.

HRIS Integrations

Haekka ships with several HRIS integrations built in — including Gusto and Workday (among several others). These integrations enable companies to automatically assign new employees training when they are added to the organization’s HRIS database. KnowBe4 does not have any HRIS integrations without using a third-party tool like Zapier.

HIPAA, GDPR, and other Compliance Training

Both Haekka and KnowBe4 have training for various forms of regulatory compliance included in their libraries. Haekka's compliance training is written by experts with direct experience in these frameworks. All content on Haekka is written and kept up to date to align with how people work. Additionally, all compliance content on Haekka is included on all paid plans with no additional fee.

Curated, Relevant Content Written for Modern Remote/Hybrid Work 

Haekka’s 0Security Awareness Training was written with the explicit purpose of securing remote/hybrid employees in a post-covid world. Haekka’s co-founders understood that cloud software is now where the majority of work is done and have tailored the content to focus on modern security. Haekka’s content library includes training on using Slack, Google Workspace, and several other SaaS apps in a secure and compliant manner. Haekka’s content library continues to grow, and every training in the catalog has been vetted for quality. Haekka's content library grows with new SaaS-specific security training that emphasizes remote/hybrid work.

KnowBe4 has an extensive content library but many topics are repeated. For example, searching KnowBe4's content for “passwords” returns 66 different courses; yes, passwords are an important aspect of security awareness but 68 different courses on passwords is a lot of the same topic.

Product vs Content Innovation

The security awareness training market has long focused on huge content libraries to innovate. Forrester predicts this era of racing to have massive security awareness content libraries is over and instead we will start to see product innovation as a differentiator in the security awareness market. Haekka's focus on product experience, both for users as well as managers sets us apart in the market. User experience for both admins and users is a frequent point of negative feedback we hear about existing security awareness products on the market.

30 Second Onboarding

When you schedule a demo with Haekka, you get the full Haekka experience. That includes our full Slack functionality, access to our entire course catalog, the ability to write your own content, and every other feature Haekka offers. You can even install Haekka for yourself and test out its features on your own time if you feel like it. You can then roll Haekka out to everyone in your organization at the click of a button. Account provisioning and assignment are made simple through our Slack and API integrations.

Phishing Simulations

Haekka's Phishing simulator brings together real-time phishing results with the benefit of delivering just-in-time training directly in Slack. Many Haekka customers, instead of relying on solely phishing or redundant content about phishing, use Haekka's Engagements feature to deliver relevant phishing content on a recurring basis (not to mention all of our Security Awareness lessons covers phishing in great detail). Haekka also includes security awareness games that simulate phishing experiences and skills that minimize the risk of falling victim to a phishing attack.

One-time and recurring security announcements, quizzes, and surveys entirely in Slack

Haekka provides a centralized messaging system for Security, IT, and HR teams to communicate with employees and measure engagement. With Haekka Engagements, companies can help employees build a security mindset. With Engagements you can make announcements about new threats, send surveys, and run monthly recurring quizzes — Haekka tracks engagements and provides reports for you. Our focus on connecting security teams to employees is a market and product differentiator when compared to solutions like KnowBe4.

Automated weekly security content sent directly to your employees in Slack

Haekka Streams are a one-stop, one size fits all solution to delivering high-quality security awareness content to your employees. Streams are by far the easiest and most effective method of training and maintaining security hygiene. You simply subscribe your organization, and every Friday Haekka will automatically send your employees a new lesson. Streams are a great companion to annual and onboarding security awareness training.

Conclusion

Haekka and KnowBe4 are both tools to improve your company’s security posture. We hope this list helps you decide which product you ultimately want to go with. If you want any more information about Haekka, feel free to contact us here or schedule a demo to see Haekka in action.