Rockwell Automation, Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Verve Industrial Protection, a cybersecurity software and services company. Accordingly, the new deal will expand the offerings of Rockwell with an industry-leading asset inventory system and vulnerability management solution.

A recent Rockwell Automation report found that operational technology (OT) and industrial control systems (ICS) attacks are on the rise. Moreover,  around 60% of the incidents studied resulted in operational disruption.

Strengthens Rockwell’s Offering

As companies continually add hardware and software in plants, many struggle to manage and protect these assets across an expanded attack surface. For that reason, it increases the potential for cyberattacks.

Meanwhile, the industry encounters significant resource and talent shortages needed to implement and manage operational technology (OT) cybersecurity programs. The Verve Security Center platform enables real-time asset inventory, and vulnerability management. Thus, risk remediation will strengthen Rockwell’s current offerings and address these issues.

“The foundation of OT cybersecurity starts with visibility into assets – you can’t protect what you don’t know you have. This continues to be a critical challenge for manufacturers,” said Matt Fordenwalt, Rockwell’s senior vice president, Lifecycle Services.

In addition, Fordenwalt said, “With the Verve acquisition, our customers can quickly assess their assets, prioritize risk, and apply countermeasures to mitigate vulnerabilities. All within a single platform. The addition of Verve to our suite of solutions allows customers to further build resiliency and continuously improve the security, safety, and availability of their operations.”

Mitigate Factory Vulnerabilities

The Verve Security Center platform aims to provide IT-level security while addressing the unique challenges of the OT environment. At the center of the Verve platform is an asset inventory system that recognizes all industrial assets, regardless of manufacturer.

Hence, Verve’s proprietary approach communicates directly with the assets, gathering critical information without impacting network performance and interrupting production. It then aggregates a wide range of data sources, including Rockwell’s partner technologies, into its platform as a “single pane of glass” that provides actionable insight for customers to quickly address their highest-risk assets.

Verve professional services also provide ongoing remediation, along with a strategic roadmap and business case development. Thus, further deepening Rockwell’s cybersecurity consulting capabilities. Going forward, customers will benefit from comprehensive capabilities with the combined expertise of Verve, Rockwell, and Rockwell’s technology partnerships.

John Livingston, CEO of Verve Industrial said, “Our platform has helped clients mitigate thousands of vulnerabilities and is an important addition to Rockwell’s OT cybersecurity solutions. Thus, providing actionable intelligence to quickly mitigate cybersecurity risks, so that manufacturing facilities can stay up and running.”