Security Awareness Training Advocates

Erich Kron is a Security Awareness Advocate at KnowBe4 and is a veteran information security professional with over 25 years of experience in the medical, aerospace manufacturing and defense fields. Kron is the former Security Manager for the US Army's 2nd Regional Cyber Center and holds SACP, CISSP, CISSP-ISSAP, MCITP and ITIL v3 certifications among others. Kron hosts multiple cybersecurity podcasts and is often quoted in industry publications and has been seen in television interviews across the country. He works with information security professionals around the world to provide the tools, training and educational opportunities to succeed in information security.

Language: English

James McQuiggan is a Security Awareness Advocate for KnowBe4. Prior to joining KnowBe4, McQuiggan worked for Siemens for eighteen years where he was responsible for various roles, including his most recent as Product & Solution Security Officer for Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy. In this role, he consulted and supported various corporate divisions on cybersecurity standards, information security awareness and securing product networks. In addition to his work at Siemens, McQuiggan is also a part-time faculty professor at Valencia College in the Engineering, Computer Programming & Technology Division.

James is a CISSP and within the central Florida community, he is the President of the Central Florida (ISC)2 Chapter where he supports cybersecurity professionals with education and networking opportunities. Working with the Center for Cyber Safety and Education, he has taught the Safe and Secure Online education and awareness program to over 7,000 students, parents, teachers and the “life-experienced” (seniors) to ensure they understand the dangers of the internet. McQuiggan holds the SACP certification.

Language: English

Joanna Huisman is Senior Vice President of Strategic Insights and Research at KnowBe4. She is a marketing, training and communications professional with over 20 years of experience in strategic, internal and customer-facing engagements in the financial services/tech industries with added experience in sales, operations and organizational development. Huisman was previously senior research director at Gartner in the areas of security awareness, education, behavior management, culture, crisis communications, security and risk program management. Prior to that, she was senior director of global security communications, training and awareness for ADP. 

Language: English

Lecio DePaula currently serves as Vice President of Data Protection for KnowBe4, where he focuses on navigating global data protection requirements and ensuring KnowBe4 meets its data protection standards. He began his career at a privacy tech company, where he became an expert in all things U.S. privacy, with a specific focus on HIPAA compliance. He now leads KnowBe4's effort in protecting its information assets on premise and in the cloud. DePaula has extensive expertise in many European and United States privacy laws, such as GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA. His primary focus is bridging the gap between privacy and security to create a robust data protection program. DePaula holds a CISSP as well as an AWS/Security certification and is currently a Fellow of Information Privacy certified. He is also certified by the IAPP and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional for Canada, Europe, and the United States.

Language: English, Portuguese

Perry Carpenter is the Chief Evangelist and Strategy Officer at KnowBe4 and the author of, "Transformational Security Awareness: What Neuroscientists, Storytellers, and Marketers Can Teach Us About Driving Secure Behaviors" and coauthor of "The Security Culture Playbook: An Executive Guide To Reducing Risk and Developing Your Human Defense Layer". He is also the creator and host of the "8th Layer Insights" podcast.

Formerly, Carpenter led security awareness, security culture management, and anti-phishing behavior management research at Gartner Research, in addition to covering areas of IAM strategy, CISO Program Management mentoring, and Technology Service Provider success strategies. With a long career as a security professional and researcher, Carpenter has broad experience in North America and Europe, providing security consulting and advisory services for many of the best-known global brands.

Carpenter holds a Master of Science in Information Assurance (MSIA) from Norwich University in Vermont and is a Security Awareness and Culture Professional (SACP) and a Certified Chief Information Security Officer (C|CISO).

Language: English

Roger A. Grimes is a Data-Driven Defense Evangelist at KnowBe4. He is a 30-year computer security professional, author of 12 books and over 1,000 national magazine articles. He frequently consults with the world’s largest and smallest companies, and militaries, and he has seen what does and doesn’t work. Grimes was a weekly security columnist for InfoWorld and CSO magazines from 2005 - 2019. He regularly presents at national computer security conferences, and has been interviewed by national magazines and radio shows, including Newsweek magazine and NPR’s All Things Considered. Roger is known for his often contrarian, fact-filled viewpoints.

Language: English

Rosa L. Smothers has over 20 years of experience in cybersecurity. She is currently Senior Vice President of Cyber Operations at KnowBe4, where she is responsible for leading KnowBe4’s Federal Practice efforts, including providing cybersecurity advisory services to civilian and military agencies within the U.S. federal government. Smothers is also responsible for providing analysis for KnowBe4’s cybersecurity research and cyber threat intelligence efforts. Having served for over a decade in the Central Intelligence Agency, she is a highly decorated national security professional with extensive experience leading the planning and execution of cyber operations against terrorist and nation-state targets as well as the adoption of cutting-edge computer technology.

Smothers served as a cybersecurity analyst and technical intelligence officer in the Center for Cyber Intelligence and the Counter Terrorism Mission Center and on multiple overseas tours, to include extensive service in Iraq. She holds a B.A. in Information Studies from Florida State University and an M.S. in Computer Network Security from Capitol Technology University. Smothers is a mentor to women and young people in cybersecurity and is a member of Infragard and Women in Defense.

Language: English

Javvad Malik is the Lead Security Awareness Advocate at KnowBe4 and is based in London. Malik is an IT security professional with over 20 years of experience as an IT security administrator, consultant, industry analyst and security advocate. He is also a multi-award winner and is currently a Guinness World Records holder for the most views of a cybersecurity lesson on YouTube in 24 hours.

Malik is passionate about helping people understand the value of cyber security and how every department and individual can play their part. He often educates his audience through blog posts, videos, podcasts and at public speaking events. Malik holds the SACP and CISSP certification.

Language: English

Jelle Wieringa has over 20 years of experience in business development, sales, management and marketing. In his current role as Security Awareness Advocate for EMEA for KnowBe4, he helps organizations of all sizes understand why more emphasis is needed on the human factor, and how to manage the ongoing problem of social engineering. His goal is to help organizations and users increase their resilience by making smarter security decisions. Previously, Wieringa was responsible for building an AI-driven platform for security operations at a leading managed security provider. Wieringa holds the SACP certification.

Language: Dutch, English, German

Kai Roer is the Chief Research Officer at KnowBe4 and coauthor of "The Security Culture Playbook: An Executive Guide To Reducing Risk and Developing Your Human Defense Layer," and "Build a Security Culture".

Roer works with the information security community on a global stage to educate on the importance and impact of security culture. For over 20 years, he has provided actionable advice founded on empirical evidence to organizations around the world and focuses on helping organizations understand what security culture they currently have, what security culture they would like to have, and how to get there. 

Prior to KnowBe4, Roer founded the security culture measurement company, CLTRe (pronounced culture), the world’s first SaaS-platform built to measure and manage an organization’s security culture. 

Roer has been recognized as a leading global authority on the topic of security culture and has received several awards, including the Ron Knode Service Award by the Cloud Security Alliance CSA for his extensive voluntary work in the security community around the world. He also holds the SACP certification.

Language: Norwegian, English

Jacqueline Jayne (JJ) currently serves as Security Awareness Advocate for the APAC region for KnowBe4, the provider of the world’s largest security awareness and simulated phishing platform. With over 20 years’ experience as a conduit between people and technology, she has mastered the art of communication and influence. Previously, Jayne led a successful cybersecurity education and awareness program that changed behavior and culture. Her insights on the human condition and how to engage at all levels in this space are invaluable. Jayne is also a renowned speaker and is giving engaging and thought-provoking talks at conferences around the world. Jayne holds the SACP certification.

Language: English

Anna Collard is the SVP of Content Strategy & Evangelist for KnowBe4 Africa where she drives security awareness across the African continent. Collard founded security content publisher Popcorn Training, which was acquired by KnowBe4 in 2018. She won the Women in Tech Innovations Throughout Africa 2020 Award for Southern and Central Africa. Additionally, Collard was featured in the Top 50 Women in Cybersecurity – Africa 2020 as well as the Top 100 Women in Cyber 2020 and 2021 globally by Cyber Defence Magazine. She was awarded the ISACA South Africa prestigious President Award for 2020 and was featured in the UK’s IT Security Guru’s 21 Most Inspiring Women in Cyber 2021 list.

Collard holds various security certifications such as SACP, CISSP, CISA, ISO 27001 lead auditor, CIPP/IT and was formerly a Visa/Mastercard PCI DSS QSA.

Language: English, German (fluent), French (intermediate)