KnowBe4 has launched Messaging Security for Microsoft Teams, extending its threat detection and response tools from email into chat.
The product is aimed at organisations that use Teams as a core collaboration tool and want to detect and remediate phishing and social engineering threats within the platform.
The release is part of KnowBe4's broader effort to combine email protection, collaboration security and human risk management in a single console. It is intended to address the gap between established email security systems and employee messaging tools, which have become an increasingly common route for attacks.
Research cited in the company's Phishing Threat Trends Report suggests Microsoft Teams is becoming a growing target for social engineering and phishing attempts. Attackers are exploiting the trust users place in internal messaging tools, including by impersonating IT help desk staff to steal credentials and take over domains.
KnowBe4 also highlighted the risks created by some Teams external access settings. If domain restrictions are not in place, outside users may be able to contact employees directly, creating a channel that can bypass traditional email-focused filtering.
The service monitors messages from outside the organisation to identify suspicious content. It also checks Teams settings for default configurations that allow broad external access and provides remediation guidance through a posture monitoring tool.
Administrators can test detections in a report-only mode before enabling automated blocking. KnowBe4 also uses a unified global list across email and Teams, allowing known malicious actors to be blocked in both channels at the same time.
Teams messages can also be assigned classification tags and risk levels to help administrators triage alerts. The approach mirrors the workflow used in the company's inbound email security product.
Greg Kras, Chief Product Officer at KnowBe4, outlined the company's position on the launch.
"KnowBe4 Messaging Security has been launched with the goal of enhancing, not hindering, teamwork. This provides organisations with a single, unified console that seamlessly secures both email and chat environments, starting with Microsoft Teams. By removing the uncertainty from chat interactions, we empower employees to collaborate confidently. This ensures that both internal and external collaboration drives business value, rather than introducing new liabilities," said Greg Kras, Chief Product Officer at KnowBe4.
Customer view
KnowBe4 also pointed to customer demand for multiple layers of protection as phishing attacks become more varied across workplace systems.
"We recognised that one layer is not enough to detect and neutralise the numerous advanced phishing threats targeting GMMH day-to-day work. KnowBe4 Defend not only provides an additional layer of defence but also supplements our security awareness training. Defend's clickable banners allow employees to continuously develop their cybersecurity awareness," said Kevin Orritt, Cyber Security Manager at GMMH.
KnowBe4 said more than 70,000 organisations use its products worldwide. Its broader platform includes security awareness training, attack simulation, collaboration security and tools designed to assess human and agent-related risk.
The launch reflects a wider shift in corporate cybersecurity spending as companies move beyond email to secure chat, collaboration and other communication channels that now sit at the centre of day-to-day work.