KnowBe4 Supports Metaverse Safety Week

TAMPA BAY, Fla.****, Dec. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — KnowBe4, the provider of the world’s largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, today announced its support of the Metaverse Safety Week initiative.

The Metaverse is designed to transform human engagement and interactions and push the boundaries of commercialization. It is also a whole new world with security risks, vulnerabilities and legitimate user concerns. People currently interested in the metaverse are already being duped by phishing scams peddling fraudulent NFTs, metaverse land-sales and other dubious Web3 projects via social media, Discord channels, email and comments on popular YouTube videos.

Anna Collard, SVP of Content Strategy and Evangelist at KnowBe4 Africa says: “Security issues in the metaverse include trolls, sexual and racial harassment, which are all problems we are faced with right now on most digital platforms, but the immersiveness of VR can have a more devastating effect on their victim’s mental well-being. The risks for children are especially high as they are more likely to explore the metaverse before their parents will, exposing them to inappropriate content without us, the parents or caregivers being aware of it.”

As an industry we have an opportunity to address these risks proactively and reduce harm to humans and societies by coming together to build awareness and safeguards. This is why KnowBe4 is sponsoring the Metaverse Safety Week, a virtual event, which is an international community effort, led by the XR Safety Initiative, featuring industry leaders from around the world and spanning five days from Dec 10th to Dec 15th, 2022.

The event will explore the challenges of these brave new worlds in critical areas of the immersive ecosystem and ensure that we ask the uncomfortable questions now. It will help to bring to light the opportunities to create a better and safer Metaverse for all, spreading awareness and promoting policies, guidelines and research. It will explore core issues such as bias, transparency and data ownership through art, panels, debates and workshops, bringing global perspectives to advance our shared ecosystem.

Register for the event (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/metaverse-safety-week-2022-tickets-395485727457).

About KnowBe4

KnowBe4, the provider of the world’s largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, is used by more than 54,000 organizations around the globe. Founded by IT and data security specialist Stu Sjouwerman, KnowBe4 helps organizations address the human element of security by raising awareness about ransomware, CEO fraud and other social engineering tactics through a new-school approach to awareness training on security. Kevin Mitnick, an internationally recognized cybersecurity specialist and KnowBe4’s Chief Hacking Officer, helped design the KnowBe4 training based on his well-documented social engineering tactics. Tens of thousands of organizations rely on KnowBe4 to mobilize their end users as the last line of defense.

About the XRSI - XR Safety Initiative

XR Safety Initiative (XRSI) is a global non profit Standards Developing Organization (SDO) that promotes privacy, safety, security, and ethics in immersive environments. Founded in 2019 by Kavya Pearlman, known as the “Cyber Guardian,” an award-winning cybersecurity professional with a deep interest in immersive and emerging technologies. Headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, XRSI currently has over 150 diverse and multidisciplinary advisors from around the globe. The Metaverse Safety Week 2022 (#MSW2022) is an international community effort, a safety awareness campaign, led by the XRSI - XR Safety Initiative, featuring industry leaders from around the world at a week-long conference inside an exclusively created #VirtualWorld.