Rockwell Automation Signs Agreement to Acquire Verve Industrial Protection

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Verve Industrial Protection, a cybersecurity software and services company that focuses specifically on industrial environments, expanding 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, with 60% of the incidents studied resulting in operational disruption. As companies continually add hardware and software alongside legacy equipment in plants, many organizations struggle to manage and protect these assets across an expanded attack surface, increasing the potential for cyberattacks. Meanwhile, the industry is plagued with 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, vulnerability management, and risk remediation that 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. “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.”

The Verve Security Center platform was built 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. 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.