PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
KnowBe4 has expanded its Defend email security portfolio with new protection for Google Workspace, bringing AI threat detection, explainable verdicts and real‑time coaching to Gmail’s global user base.
Launched at Fal.Con 2026 in Las Vegas, the new release introduces a multi‑engine behavioural AI model trained on more than 1.15 billion daily event signals. KnowBe4 says the system analyses layered intent signals to identify advanced BEC, zero‑payload phishing and prompt‑injection attacks that native Google controls frequently miss.
Greg Kras, chief product officer at KnowBe4, said the update strengthens the security posture of organisations relying on Google’s productivity suite. “Google empowers productivity and collaboration. KnowBe4 protects the digital workforce,” he said. “We are bringing explainable, multi‑engine AI detection and real‑time coaching together in a single, API‑native layer, so every blocked threat also becomes a teachable moment.”
Each intercepted threat triggers an immediate, contextual notification to the intended recipient, turning risky emails into point‑of‑risk training. Once a malicious variant is confirmed, Defend for Google Workspace integrates with PhishER Plus to hunt down and remove matching threats across enterprise Gmail inboxes in under two minutes, a process KnowBe4 claims reduces multi‑hour SOC containment to near‑instant response.
Early adopter data shows the platform processed 539,384 emails, intercepting 810 dangerous threats, roughly one in every 666 messages, and flagging 5,491 suspicious emails that bypassed native Google protections. It also classified more than 361,000 productivity‑related emails, saving organisations an average of 10.96 hours per week.
Customers report significant operational gains. Mark Burtenshaw, ICT manager, security and compliance at The City of Edinburgh Council, said Defend’s threat intelligence dashboard “dramatically increased employees’ everyday vigilance to phishing attacks.” Jeremy Demetrius at GovSpend added that the platform “streamlined our entire triage workflow… and saves our security team hours each week while keeping organisational risk at an all‑time low.”
Defend for Google Workspace will be available from 15 September 2026 for KnowBe4 customers across SMB, mid‑market and enterprise environments. Organisations can request a demo via https://www.knowbe4.com/products/defend.
