Honeywell has agreed to acquire SCADAfence, a leading provider of operational technology (OT) and Internet of Things (IoT) cybersecurity solutions.

SCADAfence brings proven capabilities in asset discovery, threat detection and security governance. Most importantly, these elements are critical to industrial and buildings management cybersecurity programs.

The OT cybersecurity industry is expected to grow to greater than US$10 billion in the next several years. Particularly, in the industrial sector, cyberattacks focused on OT systems can be a significant source of unplanned downtime. Add to this, recent estimates showed unplanned downtime represents over a trillion dollars in lost revenue for the industrial and critical infrastructure sectors.

“It is essential to protect and maintain the integrity of operational systems like process control equipment in manufacturing facilities. A simple breach in the OT environment has the potential to create safety and business continuity risk for organizations of all sizes. OT assets are inherently different than those in the IT environment as they are domain specific,” said Kevin Dehoff, president and chief executive officer, Honeywell Connected Enterprise.

In addition, Dehoff stressed that Honeywell has been delivering and installing these systems for decades. For that reason, the company launched its cybersecurity business more than twenty years ago.

Adding SCADAfence’s product portfolio will strengthen Honeywell’s capabilities. Thus, helping customers even further against cyber security risks.

End-to-End Enterprise OT Cybersecurity Solution

The SCADAfence product portfolio will integrate into the Honeywell Forge Cybersecurity+ suite within Honeywell Connected Enterprise. Honeywell’s fast-growing software arm with strategic focus on digitalization, sustainability, and OT cybersecurity SaaS offerings and solutions.

Furthermore, this integration will enable Honeywell to provide an end-to-end enterprise OT cybersecurity solution to site managers, operations management, and CISOs seeking enterprise security management and situational awareness. Thus, the acquisition strengthens existing capabilities in cybersecurity. At the same time, bolsters Honeywell’s high-growth OT cybersecurity portfolio, helping customers operate more securely, reliably and efficiently.

“SCADAfence is an ideal complement to Honeywell’s OT cybersecurity portfolio and, when combined with the Honeywell Forge Cybersecurity+ suite. It enables us to provide an end-to-end solution with applicability to asset, site and enterprise across key Honeywell sectors,” said Dehoff. “By enhancing our cybersecurity portfolio, we are accessing a growth engine and enabling our customers to operate their OT environments more securely. In addition, help to avoid disruption and possible catastrophic events.”

“This combination creates significant opportunity for growth. Thus, allowing us to combine our top-tier OT cybersecurity products with one of the world’s leading companies in industrial software,” said Elad Ben Meir, chief executive officer, SCADAfence.

In addition, Ben Meir said, “This will bolster the comprehensive Honeywell Forge Cybersecurity+ offering. We remain committed to proactively serving and supporting our customers across all verticals and geographies where we currently operate.”

Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, SCADAfence will expand Honeywell’s Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in Tel Aviv. Meanwhile, Honeywell has been implementing OT cybersecurity solutions for more than twenty years. Thereby delivering thousands of projects in over 130 countries. It has more than 500 employees worldwide focused specifically on OT cybersecurity.