KnowBe4 Acquires CLTRe; Shines Spotlight on Security Culture Measurement

Press Release

Acquisition further demonstrates importance of managing the human risk and cements KnowBe4’s presence in Europe

KnowBe4, the provider of the world’s largest security awareness training (SAT) and simulated phishing platform, today announced the acquisition of CLTRe —pronounced “Culture”— a Norwegian company focused on helping organizations assess, build, maintain and measure a strong security posture. CLTRe will continue to operate as an independent subsidiary of KnowBe4, and service customers globally. CLTRe’s Toolkit and Security Culture Framework will be available to all KnowBe4 customers later this year.

According to The 2018 Cybersecurity Culture Report, 95 percent of organizations see a gap between their current and desired organizational cybersecurity culture. With 94 percent of malware being delivered via email (2019 DBIR), it’s clear that working with users to minimize cyber risk and improve security culture is key.

The 2018 Security Culture Report shows the value of being able to measure culture, helping organizations to demonstrate the effectiveness of their organizational security controls, as required by GDPR, CCPA and other regulations. Interestingly, the finance industry demonstrated an overall healthy improvement in culture from 2017 while the real estate industry showed a decline.

CLTRe created the CLTRe Toolkit and the Security Culture Framework, which work in tandem to help organizations gather evidence about their current security culture and how it changes over time. The acquisition of CLTRe is advantageous for both KnowBe4 and CLTRe clients; KnowBe4 users will gain access to a research-driven measurement platform to show how their security culture program matures over time. And CLTRe clients will be introduced to the industry’s most progressive and easiest-to-use SAT and simulated phishing platform to help educate users and change their behavior.

CLTRe measures the seven dimensions of security culture: behavior, responsibilities, cognition, norms, compliance, communication and attitudes.