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Case Study

Elica

At a Glance

1,100 employees trained using the KnowBe4 platform

Employees have increased cyber awareness both at Elica and at home

Nearly 30 suspicious emails reported per week via the Phish Alert Button

Automatic resolution of nearly 1,560 emails per year by PhishER

Focus on Security:
Elica Cultivates a Strong Security Posture with KnowBe4

Elica, an Italian-based manufacturer of high-quality kitchen hoods and cooking appliances, has a global footprint of 2,500 employees worldwide. As a large organization, the company’s IT department knew that cyberattacks were inevitable.

Elica deployed various cyber defenses, but understood that creating a culture of security was critical.

“Giving our people the knowledge to spot a threat and then bring it to the attention of my team meant that we could protect ourselves at a level that no other cybersecurity offering could give. Our people are a critical factor in protecting our company,” says Lorenzo Monti, IT Infrastructure and Cybersecurity Administrator for Elica.

Industry

Manufacturing
(Kitchen Appliances)

Location

Fabriano, Italy

Challenge

Getting ahead of potential cyber attacks by educating employees to spot threats

KnowBe4 Products

Monti and his team inherited the management of an existing KnowBe4 deployment that comprised KnowBe4’s Security Awareness Training and PhishER, which is a lightweight incident response platform, to help identify and respond to user-reported messages. Monti’s predecessor had deployed KnowBe4 using the Active Directory integration, making for a seamless process of rolling out and managing the products across 1,100 Elica employees. “Everything about KnowBe4 is both simple and sophisticated,” Monti says. “Simple to use, manage and understand, but the education our users receive is incredibly sophisticated.”

Turning Up The Heat on Cyber Threats

Elica’s IT team wanted to improve employee awareness and reduce the number of people who fall for phishing attacks. As a global enterprise, Elica was naturally a target for various threats, but Monti and his team wanted to use KnowBe4 to stop an attack before it could become a successful breach.

“We believe in prevention first, and while we have many layers of cybersecurity defenses, we understand the value of our employees to help protect our company,” Monti says.

After trying different approaches to train and test users, Monti and his team moved to an entirely different strategic approach in 2024. While KnowBe4 had been a consistent success within Elica, the IT team wanted to put a more targeted, thoughtful program in place. “It was important that we bred a security culture that employees felt every single day, not just here and there. KnowBe4 has been an important part in helping us build this culture,” Monti says.

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KnowBe4 — A Recipe for Security Culture

CR-0547 Elica case study 2026 web imgs_Webpage side img 325x631The shift in strategy means Monti and his team now use KnowBe4 to train employees monthly, using mostly video trainings that are short and that users find compelling.

“KnowBe4’s video trainings are entertaining and explain complex cybersecurity tactics in a way that all employees can understand. If our people understand what to watch for, they can do a better job of avoiding a threat,” Monti says.

Between monthly trainings, Monti and his team also use KnowBe4 to test all 1,100 users on a random schedule so users do not know when to expect a simulated phishing test. Because of the shift in strategy, the IT team is still gathering hard metrics to show that employees are more aware of cybersecurity threats. But they have been keeping an eye on an important soft metric too.

“One of the most important pieces of feedback I’ve received is that our employees are using what they have learned from KnowBe4 at Elica to improve security in their private lives,” Monti says. “We have employees talking to us about how they are watching for phishing emails at home or applying two-factor authentication on their personal accounts. That, to me, is a remarkable KnowBe4 success.”

“We have employees talking to us about how they are watching for phishing emails at home or applying two factor authentication on their personal accounts. That, to me, is a remarkable KnowBe4 success.”

Lorenzo Monti, IT Infrastructure and Systems Administrator, Elica

PhishER Cooks Up Time Savings

Monti and the IT team recognize that Elica’s security culture has dramatically improved because of the KnowBe4 Security Awareness Training and PhishER products.

Elica users need to recognize phishing emails, whether they are legitimate or simulated tests sent by Monti and his team to test readiness. An important part of building security awareness within the company is to empower users to report concerning emails. When an Elica user suspects an email is a threat, they click the Phish Alert Button (PAB) to report it. By clicking the PAB, which integrates directly into Elica’s email client, the suspicious email is moved from the user’s inbox and into PhishER where Monti and his team are alerted.

PhishER automates the previously manual process of identifying if a suspicious email is a legitimate threat. If it is, PhishER removes the message from the inbox of any other Elica user who might have received it. If not, a response is automatically sent to the user thanking them for reporting and notifying them that it was not a real threat.

Monti estimates that his team receives up to 30 reported emails every week. More than 90% of them are not legitimate threats, but PhishER has spotted real phishing emails and removed them from all inboxes to prevent users from clicking on them. “The time savings PhishER provides our team is equal to about a month every year,” Monti says.

Serving Up a Future Together

Monti and the Elica IT team have been so pleased with their KnowBe4 deployment that they are excited about a future deployment: PasswordIQ. When deployed, this new product will help Elica spot potential vulnerabilities in user passwords and prompt users to create stronger ones.

“I absolutely recommend KnowBe4. It’s a powerful platform that is so simple to use. Our users enjoy learning about cybersecurity now and have improved our security culture as well as their own personal security,” Monti says.

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