Security awareness training expansion through Europe, Middle East and Africa to be helmed by Jeffrey de Graaf
KnowBe4, provider of the world’s largest new-school security awareness and simulated phishing platform, has appointed Jeffrey de Graaf as its Managing Director, EMEA, working out of the company’s EMEA headquarters in Utrecht, Netherlands. In this role, Mr. de Graaf will be responsible for leading KnowBe4’s operations across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The company’s focus on EMEA comes after its 2017 launch into the UK, and will focus on a similar long-term channel strategy that develops a vigorous partner network throughout the region.
Mr. de Graaf joins KnowBe4 with more than 20 years’ experience as a sales and marketing professional, with a strong emphasis on IT security and channel relations. He was most recently chief marketing officer at QSight IT, where his numerous responsibilities included innovation strategy, sales and marketing for the information technology company. Prior to QSight IT, he held several positions for Onsight Solutions, most notably as chief commercial officer where he oversaw marketing, sales and business development and drove overall results for the company. Mr. de Graaf has also held positions with Liberty Global, and comes to KnowBe4 with a proven history of sales, account management, new business development and marketing management within the IT security industry.
At a time when phishing, social engineering, and ransomware attacks continue to run rampant across the globe, KnowBe4 is seizing the opportunity to bring its new-school security awareness training to a broader, world-wide audience.
“Joining KnowBe4 at this critical time in its international growth and being able to lead its efforts across EMEA from the start is a wonderful opportunity that I am eager to tackle,” said Mr. de Graaf. “My UK peers have done a tremendous job of building very strong year-over-year growth and I’m looking forward to fostering a strong channel network and producing similar results throughout EMEA. In the very short time we have been directly focused on this region, we have seen significant interest from partners and customers, alike, and are already hiring to ensure we provide the great support KnowBe4 is known for.”
“We continue to see phishing scams proliferate the business environment across the globe which proves that avoidable attacks have the ability to decimate an organization and that training your employees as your last line of defense makes a huge difference. Ensuring your users know what not to click on or how to prevent an attack is doable with the right tools like our new-school security awareness training and simulated phishing tools,” said Stu Sjouwerman, CEO of KnowBe4. “Jeffrey is a fantastic addition to our growing global team of accomplished, smart and tenacious leaders that prioritize the channel and will help us grow our network of partners across EMEA. I’m thrilled to have him on our team.”
For more information about The KnowBe4 Partner Program, please visit: https://www.knowbe4.com/partnering
About KnowBe4
KnowBe4, the provider of the world’s most popular integrated new-school security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, is used by more than 17,000 organizations worldwide. Founded by data and IT security expert Stu Sjouwerman, KnowBe4 helps organizations address the human element of security by raising awareness of ransomware, CEO fraud and other social engineering tactics through a new-school approach to security awareness training. Kevin Mitnick, internationally recognized computer security expert and KnowBe4’s Chief Hacking Officer, helped design KnowBe4’s training based on his well-documented social engineering tactics. Thousands of organizations trust KnowBe4 to mobilize their end-users as the last line of corporate IT defense.
Number 231 on the 2017 Inc. 500 list, #70 on 2017 Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 and #6 in Cybersecurity Ventures Cybersecurity 500. KnowBe4 is headquartered in Tampa Bay, Florida with European offices in England and the Netherlands.
