Honeywell (Morris Plains, N.J.; www.honeywell.com) announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Nextnine, a privately held provider of security management solutions and technologies for industrial cybersecurity. The addition of Nextnine’s industry-leading security solutions and secure remote service capabilities will enhance the Company’s existing range of cybersecurity technologies and significantly increase Honeywell’s Connected Plant cybersecurity customer base.
Nextnine’s flagship technology, ICS Shield, protects industrial sites from cybersecurity attacks and enables remote monitoring of assets. It complements Honeywell’s extensive cybersecurity portfolio with a solution that is used at more than 6,200 sites globally across the oil and gas, utility, chemical, mining and manufacturing sectors. Previously, ICS Shield had to be deployed separately for each control system vendor, resulting in multiple and separate installations at a single customer site. With this acquisition, customers will be able to deploy and operate a single system, thereby simplifying and better securing their entire site with Honeywell’s proven capability to provide multi-vendor solutions.
Founded in 1998, Nextnine has been backed to date by Infinity VC, XT Hi-Tech and several other prominent investors.
“Each day, the number of attempted cyber attacks on industrial facilities and critical infrastructure around the world increases,” said Vimal Kapur, president of Honeywell Process Solutions. “This acquisition shows our ongoing commitment to providing our customers with a comprehensive portfolio of cybersecurity solutions to protect and defend their industrial control systems and process control networks. Honeywell’s extensive global reach will increase Nextnine’s availability to a broader range of customers.”