Cybersecurity training has long suffered from a fundamental problem: it can be boring and unmemorable. Endless PowerPoint slides, droning webinars, and jargon-heavy lectures leave employees disengaged and uninspired. But KnowBe4, the security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, has found a way to make cyber education as gripping as a Netflix thriller. With the release […]
Cybersecurity training has long suffered from a fundamental problem: it can be boring and unmemorable. Endless PowerPoint slides, droning webinars, and jargon-heavy lectures leave employees disengaged and uninspired.
But KnowBe4, the security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, has found a way to make cyber education as gripping as a Netflix thriller. With the release of the sixth season of its cyber drama The Inside Man, KnowBe4 is proving that storytelling is the key to making security lessons stick.
The Inside Man isn’t your typical corporate training video. Created by UK-based production company Twist & Shout, which KnowBe4 acquired to develop high-quality educational content, the series follows the exploits of Mark Shepherd, a former black-hat hacker turned ethical security analyst.
Each 12-episode season weaves real-world hacking and social engineering tactics into an emotionally charged narrative, showing just how easily cybercriminals can exploit human vulnerabilities.
In Season 6, which TechInformed took a sneak peak of last month in a Soho screening room, the stakes are higher than ever.
The villain, Cyrus, operates a hacking farm inside a Romanian castle, using a quantum-style supercomputer to influence global elections in a Cambridge Analytica-style scheme. The storyline highlights the risks of backdoors in software, the power of AI-driven attacks, and the corporatisation of cybercrime—where hacking groups operate with the efficiency of Fortune 500 companies.
Poster for season 6 of KnowBe4’s Netflix-style drama used for cybersecurity training
“There’s a lot of research into how memory works,” says Rob McCollum, The Inside Man series writer and actor (Agent Murphy). “Quiz someone three months after a traditional training session, and they might struggle to recall the bullet points. But they’ll remember exactly what happened to the characters in The Inside Man and the lessons they learned.”
The growth of a cybersecurity phenomenon
Since its debut eight years ago, The Inside Man has grown into an international success. Over 20,000 companies have engaged with the series, with more than 20 million completions of episode one alone. Subscribers are KnowBe4’s customer base, which ranges from Poundland and SaskWater to law firm DLA Piper and online supermarket Ocado.
Unlike traditional cybersecurity training, The Inside Man has built a dedicated fan base. Employees voluntarily watch the episodes, host screening parties, and even dress up as characters for Halloween. KnowBe4 has leaned into this enthusiasm by running fan contests, where winners can appear in the show.
A companion series, Inside The Inside Man, even explores what elements of the show are based on real-world hacking tactics and what’s pure fiction.
“We’ve seen incredible engagement,” says McCollum. “Typically, organisations roll out traditional training first and use The Inside Man as a supplement. But people don’t want to wait for their next assigned episode—they want to binge-watch.”
A learning revolution
The shift from issue-based training to a story-first approach has made cybersecurity awareness more effective, he claims.
“Early seasons were more structured around learning moments,” McCollum explains. “But as people became genuine fans, training turned into a pull rather than a push. CISOs tell us they’ve never had employees ask when the next training video will be released—until now.”
Rob McCollum, The Inside Man series writer, also plays Agent Murphy
Jim Shields, series director and founder of Twist & Shout, emphasises the importance of real-world accuracy. “We work closely with KnowBe4’s security evangelists to shape the episodes. Sometimes, we come up with an idea and ask them if it’s realistic. More often than not, they tell us, ‘Not only is that possible, but it’s already happening.’”
In one season, a car is hacked while in motion—something that once seemed far-fetched but has since been proven feasible by cybersecurity researchers.
The future of cybersecurity training?
With The Inside Man now dubbed in six languages (German, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Japanese) and subtitled in 35 more, its global reach continues to expand. Season 7 is set for release in May 2026, and KnowBe4 has launched a spinoff—Security Coach—featuring fan-favourite AJ in bite-sized, real-time coaching videos.
While KnowBe4 won’t reveal exact production costs, they describe the budget as “akin to making a small indie film.” It’s likely the most ambitious and expensive cybersecurity training ever produced.
But the investment appears to be paying off. By transforming security awareness into an engaging, binge-worthy experience, The Inside Man is proving that when it comes to learning, a gripping story beats a PowerPoint slide every time.
