KnowBe4 promises to pay ransoms if employees get compromised

Security firm KnowBe4 is so confident that its Kevin Mitnick Security Awareness series is so beneficial, the company will pay a ransom if a client is compromised due to employee error. The new generations of ransomware typically can slip by traditional anti-virus software, and end-users are responsible for accidentally installing software on work PCs. The security awareness training is ongoing and the KnowBe4 offer to pay ransoms via bitcoin is valid until June 30.

"Many employees take work home and access the network on personal laptops or devices shared with family members," said Stu Sjouwerman, KnowBe4 CEO, in a statement. " KnowBe4 recognizes the need to help users stay secure in a variety of environments and we offer our clients a separate Home Internet Security Course for their whole family as an extra bonus. We are so confident our training works, we'll pay your ransom in Bitcoin if you get hit with ransomware while you are a customer and your employees stepped through our training."

It's a bold decision by KnowBe4, as 234,000 people have been hit with some type of ransomware, such as CryptoLocker, CryptoDefense or CryptoBit, according to the FBI. These data breaches led to $20 million in ransom fees during a four-month span in 2013 alone, according to the report.