Honeywell Enhances Cybersecurity Lineup with Nextnine Acqusition

**Editor’s Note: Please click here for a recap of the biggest channel-impacting merger and acquisition news from April.**

Honeywell is buying Nextnine, the provider of security management services and technologies for industrial cybersecurity. The purchase price remains undisclosed.

Nextnine’s ICS Shield platform allows manufacturers and other industrial enterprises to manage and minimize the cybersecurity risks associated with connected industrial operations/industrial Internet of Things (IoT).

Through Nextnine’s sales channel partnerships with management security service providers (MSSPs), SIs and industrial automation vendors, ICS Shield has been deployed in more than 6,000 industrial plants and 1,000 manufacturing facilities globally.

Honeywell said adding Nextnine’s security services and secure remote-service capabilities will enhance its own lineup of cybersecurity technologies and increase its Connected Plant cybersecurity customer base.

“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 cyber security 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.”

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,” Honeywell said.