The modern digital landscape presents a relentless and multifaceted threat environment where cyberattacks are not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when,’ forcing organizations to adopt a sophisticated, two-pronged defense strategy that addresses both human fallibility and the inevitability of breaches. Excelling in just one of these areas is no longer sufficient; a truly resilient security posture requires a symbiotic relationship between proactive prevention and robust, rapid response. Against this backdrop, KnowBe4 has distinguished itself by achieving a rare and significant milestone in the G2 Winter 2026 Grid Reports. The company was recognized as the number one leader in two distinct and critical security categories: Security Awareness Training and Incident Response Software. This dual accolade underscores the effectiveness of a holistic approach that simultaneously strengthens the human element of defense through education and empowers security teams with the tools needed to neutralize threats that manage to slip through. The recognition, rooted in verified user feedback, signals a strong market validation of the company’s comprehensive vision for managing human and AI-driven risk.
Sustained Excellence in Proactive Defense
A Legacy of Leadership in Security Awareness
For the sixth consecutive year, KnowBe4 has solidified its position as the undisputed leader in the Security Awareness Training category, a testament to its enduring effectiveness and innovation in a crowded market. This consistent top-ranking is not merely a reflection of market share but is built upon a foundation of overwhelming customer satisfaction and tangible results. The platform’s leadership is backed by an extensive volume of user feedback, with over 2,200 verified reviews contributing to its score. An exceptional 98% of these users awarded the platform a rating of four or five stars, indicating a high degree of approval across a diverse user base. Furthermore, a remarkable 93% of users stated they would be likely to recommend the service, a key indicator of product value and customer loyalty. This sustained praise is often attributed to the platform’s powerful combination of interactive training modules and effective assessment tools, which work in concert to build and maintain a strong security culture. By moving beyond simple compliance checks, the solution focuses on genuinely changing user behavior and transforming employees from potential liabilities into a vigilant first line of defense against sophisticated cyber threats.
The Voice of the Customer
The significance of the G2 rankings lies in their methodology, which prioritizes the authentic voice of the end-user over analyst opinions or marketing claims. The G2 Winter 2026 Grid Reports are compiled using data from verified customer reviews collected during the fourth quarter of 2025, combined with data on market presence, ensuring that the rankings reflect real-world performance and satisfaction. KnowBe4’s continued dominance in the Security Awareness Training category is therefore a direct endorsement from the professionals who rely on the platform daily to mitigate human risk. This user-centric validation speaks volumes about the platform’s ability to deliver on its promises. Customers consistently highlight the platform’s engaging content, its customization capabilities, and the measurable impact it has on reducing successful phishing attacks. The consistently high ratings over six years demonstrate the company’s commitment not only to product excellence but also to evolving its offerings to meet the dynamic nature of cyber threats, ensuring that the training remains relevant, effective, and capable of fostering a resilient security-first mindset throughout an organization.
Dominance in Reactive Security Measures
Leading the Charge in Incident Response
In a powerful demonstration of its strategic breadth, KnowBe4 has also captured the number one leadership position in the Incident Response Software category for its PhishER/PhishER Plus solution. This achievement is significant as it showcases the company’s prowess not just in prevention but also in the critical post-breach phase of cybersecurity. The platform’s top ranking was further enhanced by several specific accolades, including ‘Best Results’, ‘Best Usability’, and ‘Best Relationship’. These awards highlight a well-rounded product that excels in key areas: ‘Best Results’ affirms its efficacy in identifying and neutralizing threats, ‘Best Usability’ points to an intuitive design that streamlines operations for busy security teams, and ‘Best Relationship’ underscores a commitment to superior customer support and partnership. The user satisfaction data for PhishER is equally compelling, with 97% of its more than 400 reviewers awarding it a four or five-star rating. This near-unanimous approval from users validates the platform’s ability to accelerate threat response and reduce the burden on security operations centers, effectively equipping organizations to handle the attacks that inevitably bypass preventative controls.
A Comprehensive and Validated Strategy
The dual leadership recognition in both proactive training and reactive response served as a powerful validation of KnowBe4’s comprehensive cybersecurity philosophy. As articulated by CEO Bryan Palma, the modern threat landscape demands a strategy that both trains people and AI agents to stop threats and simultaneously equips security teams to respond decisively when attacks succeed. The G2 Winter 2026 awards provided clear, market-driven evidence that the company had successfully executed this vision, delivering best-in-class solutions for both sides of the security equation. This achievement distinguished the company in a market where vendors often specialize in either prevention or response, but rarely excel at both. The customer feedback underlying these rankings confirmed that integrating top-tier security awareness with elite incident response capabilities created a synergistic effect, fostering a more resilient and adaptable security posture. This dual-pronged success established a new benchmark for what organizations could expect from a holistic security partner, reinforcing the idea that effective cybersecurity was not a single product but a continuous cycle of education, defense, and response.
