Is Egress Software Technologies still an independent company?

No. KnowBe4 announced a definitive agreement to acquire Egress on April 24, 2024, with the deal closing around July 2024. Egress is now a wholly owned brand within KnowBe4, and as of November 2025 KnowBe4 began rebranding Egress products (Defend, Prevent) with its own login pages and orange branding.

Who owns Egress now and is joining it safe?

Egress is owned by KnowBe4, which was itself taken private by Vista Equity Partners in February 2023 for $4.6B. Joining means joining KnowBe4, not an independent Egress; the Egress brand is being phased out into KnowBe4 (formerly Egress) as of May 2025 support migration.

Could AI replace Egress's core email security product?

Egress's phishing and DLP detection is the exact function that AI-native rivals like Abnormal Security and Microsoft's bundled Defender for Office 365 are converging on as of 2026, per industry buyer's guides. The moat is now at the KnowBe4 parent level (behavioral training data), not in the email module itself.

Is Egress profitable or growing revenue?

Egress's revenue was estimated at $40.4M with roughly 30% quarterly growth around the April 2024 acquisition, according to IT-Harvest as cited by BankInfoSecurity. No standalone post-acquisition revenue figures have been disclosed since Egress was folded into KnowBe4 reporting.

Who is Egress's biggest competitor?

Egress's biggest competitive pressures are Microsoft's Defender for Office 365, bundled free into Microsoft 365 E5 licensing, and Abnormal Security, an API-native behavioral AI challenger gaining share, both cited in 2026 industry buyer's guides as compressing legacy email-gateway vendors like Egress.

Has Egress had layoffs or headcount cuts since the KnowBe4 acquisition?

No standalone post-acquisition headcount figure for Egress has been disclosed; at acquisition (April 2024) Egress had 314 employees, up 5% from 299 in April 2023. Parent Vista Equity Partners' overall headcount fell about 20% from 2023 to 2025, a signal watched for portfolio cost discipline.

Cybersecurity companies · subsidiary of KnowBe4, Inc. (owned by Vista Equity Partners) · United Kingdom

Egress Software Technologies

egress.com ↗

UK email security and DLP vendor, now absorbed into KnowBe4's training platform.

Losing its protection

Assessed 21 July 2026 · Evidence as of 21 July 2026

The structural protection is eroding.

On the recordSince 21 July 2026 · Checkable from H2 2026 (approx.) · Every call on the record Checkpoint: Next Gartner Magic Quadrant refresh for Email Security Platforms

The call

Egress no longer stands on its own, it survives as a module inside KnowBe4's training platform while Microsoft and Abnormal squeeze the email security business it was built on.

Egress makes software that catches phishing emails and prevents sensitive data leaks from leaving your company. The problem is that Microsoft now bundles similar protection into Office 365 for free, and a newer competitor called Abnormal Security has a smarter technical design that is winning customers away. The biggest question is whether KnowBe4, which now owns Egress, will keep investing in the email security part or just let it become an old, barely-maintained add-on to their larger training platform.

Why

AI pressure: Abnormal Security. Abnormal's API-native behavioral AI skips the mail gateway entirely, making Egress's legacy architecture look dated to buyers. Could AI do the core job? Yes, likely.

Bigger players: Microsoft (Defender for Office 365, bundled in E5). Every Defender upgrade Microsoft ships for free inside E5 squeezes the reason to buy a separate email security add-on like Egress. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.

What protects it. KnowBe4's compliance-driven training and human-risk platform, where Egress is now one module, not the main product.

What would change this call

KnowBe4 fully retires the Egress brand and merges its email/DLP module into a single unnamed platform tier. Egress's product line is being absorbed as a maintenance feature, not a growth priority.
Next Gartner Magic Quadrant for Email Security Platforms (expected late 2025 or 2026) drops KnowBe4/Egress from Leader status. Microsoft and Abnormal Security are consolidating share at Egress's expense.
Vista Equity-driven layoffs or budget cuts specifically hit the former Egress engineering or sales teams. Parent company is deprioritizing the Egress detection engine within KnowBe4's portfolio.

Key numbers

$40.4M revenue at acquisition (2024-04-24)
314 employees at deal close (2024-04-24)
Vista Equity headcount down ~20% (2026-06-29)

Named risks

Egress brand and product line being absorbed or reduced to maintenance status inside KnowBe4. Severity: high
Microsoft's E5-bundled Defender for O365 continues compressing standalone email security differentiation. Severity: high
Abnormal Security's API-native architecture taking share in legacy email-gateway segment. Severity: medium
Vista Equity portfolio-wide cost discipline (headcount down ~20% 2023-2025) could touch KnowBe4/Egress resourcing. Severity: medium
Next Gartner MQ refresh could drop KnowBe4/Egress from Leader status as rivals consolidate share. Severity: medium

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
Microsoft (Defender for Office 365)	losing to	Bundled free in Microsoft 365 E5, cited as commoditizing baseline email security in 2026 buyer's guides
Abnormal Security	losing to	API-native behavioral AI architecture cited as out-executing legacy gateway model in 2026 comparisons
Proofpoint	contesting	Incumbent leader also validated in Gartner's first Email Security Platforms MQ, December 2024
Mimecast	contesting	Named alongside Egress as peer in email security/DLP category comparisons, 2026
Check Point	contesting	Founder Tony Pepper's former employer, cited as a competitor in the category

Questions people ask

Is Egress Software Technologies still an independent company?: No. KnowBe4 announced a definitive agreement to acquire Egress on April 24, 2024, with the deal closing around July 2024. Egress is now a wholly owned brand within KnowBe4, and as of November 2025 KnowBe4 began rebranding Egress products (Defend, Prevent) with its own login pages and orange branding.
Who owns Egress now and is joining it safe?: Egress is owned by KnowBe4, which was itself taken private by Vista Equity Partners in February 2023 for $4.6B. Joining means joining KnowBe4, not an independent Egress; the Egress brand is being phased out into KnowBe4 (formerly Egress) as of May 2025 support migration.
Could AI replace Egress's core email security product?: Egress's phishing and DLP detection is the exact function that AI-native rivals like Abnormal Security and Microsoft's bundled Defender for Office 365 are converging on as of 2026, per industry buyer's guides. The moat is now at the KnowBe4 parent level (behavioral training data), not in the email module itself.
Is Egress profitable or growing revenue?: Egress's revenue was estimated at $40.4M with roughly 30% quarterly growth around the April 2024 acquisition, according to IT-Harvest as cited by BankInfoSecurity. No standalone post-acquisition revenue figures have been disclosed since Egress was folded into KnowBe4 reporting.
Who is Egress's biggest competitor?: Egress's biggest competitive pressures are Microsoft's Defender for Office 365, bundled free into Microsoft 365 E5 licensing, and Abnormal Security, an API-native behavioral AI challenger gaining share, both cited in 2026 industry buyer's guides as compressing legacy email-gateway vendors like Egress.
Has Egress had layoffs or headcount cuts since the KnowBe4 acquisition?: No standalone post-acquisition headcount figure for Egress has been disclosed; at acquisition (April 2024) Egress had 314 employees, up 5% from 299 in April 2023. Parent Vista Equity Partners' overall headcount fell about 20% from 2023 to 2025, a signal watched for portfolio cost discipline.

Timeline

2025-11-18KnowBe4 begins rebranding Egress Defend and Prevent with new orange branding and logins
2025-08-12KnowBe4 unveils 'Rise Above Risk' rebrand, expands AIDA agent suite and Teams security
2025-05-05Egress customer support migrated to KnowBe4 ticketing system; brand phased to 'formerly Egress'
2024-12-19Egress (KnowBe4 company) named Leader in Gartner's first Email Security Platforms MQ
2024-07-01KnowBe4 acquisition of Egress closes, roughly three months after announcement
2024-04-24KnowBe4 announces definitive agreement to acquire Egress; terms undisclosed
2024-04-24Egress launches AI-powered Automated Abuse Mailbox just before acquisition close
2023-02-01Vista Equity Partners takes KnowBe4 private for $4.6B
2021-06-01Egress acquires anti-phishing AI firm Aquilai Ltd for undisclosed price
2018-12-01Egress raises $40M Series C led by FTV Capital with AlbionVC participation

Revision history

21 July 2026

First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

In the same band

Seqrite Meiya Pico NSFOCUS