Internet of Things (IoT) security company ForeScout Technologies has announced it has acquired operational technology (OT) network protection company SecurityMatters for approximately US$113 million in cash, subject to customary adjustments.
The acquisition will bolster ForeScout’s global leadership position in agentless device visibility and control across the extended enterprise with expanded capabilities and advanced features to secure OT and industrial environments.
"ForeScout’s acquisition of SecurityMatters is a natural fit as it takes us deeper into a market where we have a foothold and are seeing customer demand," says ForeScout Technologies CEO and president Michael DeCesare.
"SecurityMatters’ technology and talent will allow us to secure OT, expand our total addressable market and reinforce our solution as an end-to-end agentless device visibility and control platform."
The convergence of IT and OT is driving a rapid rise of interconnectivity and introducing new risks for enterprises as OT networks may no longer be physically segregated from the IT network.
Recent cyber attacks, such as WannaCry, NotPetya and Triton, demonstrated how vulnerable OT networks can result in significant business disruption and financial loss.
According to Forrester research, 79% of organisations with a SCADA/ICS network have suffered a breach in the past 24 months.
"Virtually every company with OT needs to rethink its cybersecurity strategy," says SecurityMatters founder and CEO Damiano Bolzoni.
"After partnering with ForeScout for the last year, it became clear that we shared the same vision.
“Now as a single company, we will be able to accelerate our momentum and create the industry’s first capability to truly segment IT and OT environments."
Founded in 2009, SecurityMatters provides organisations with device visibility, continuous network monitoring, and threat and anomaly detection specific to operational technology and industrial environments using passive collection techniques that don’t impact operations.
Its solution protects networks from the widest range of threats utilising patented technology and with a library of over 1600 ICS-specific threat indicators.
ForeScout’s acquisition of SecurityMatters aims to further its vision to: