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ForeScout Technologies snaps up SecurityMatters in $113 million deal

The deal is designed to strengthen ForeScout's enterprise and industrial security offerings.
Written by Charlie Osborne, Contributing Writer

ForeScout Technologies has announced the acquisition of SecurityMatters.

On Thursday, the San Jose, CA-based firm said the deal "will bolster ForeScout's global leadership position in agentless device visibility and control across the enterprise with expanded capabilities and advanced features to secure operational technology (OT) and industrial environments."

The acquisition was agreed for $133 million in an all-cash deal.

Founded in 2009, SecurityMatters is based in the Netherlands and specializes in solutions for device detection and monitoring, network protection, and anomaly detection.

While the firm offers a range of enterprise solutions, SecurityMatters has a keen focus on industrial cybersecurity solutions which won't impact day-to-day operations. The company has created a patent portfolio and a library of over 1,600 Industrial Control System (ICS)-specific threat indicators.

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Before being acquired by ForeScout, the company raised $5 million through Series A funding.

ForeScout says that these technologies will be integrated with the firm's visibility platform, suitable for both corporate enterprise environments and OT.

SecurityMatters' passive detection technologies also appear to be of real interest to ForeScout, which plans to merge the solution into ForeScout's own passive and active inspection for Windows, Linux, and other IT/Internet of Things (IoT) device software.

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"By identifying and classifying OT network traffic, SecurityMatters will help ForeScout extend its segmentation and policy orchestration vision to OT devices and networks," the company added.

The deal makes sense considering the emergence of Industry 4.0. The transition of industrial systems from traditional equipment to connected, smarter devices has the potential to improve operational efficiency and increase visibility on the factory floor, but the moment you add network or Wi-Fi capabilities, you create a door for cyberattackers to try and open.

It was only earlier this month that researchers uncovered malware including Stuxnet, Mirai, WannaCry lurking on USB drives found in industrial settings, and without protection, it is industrial players -- and the core services they provide -- that are at risk of exploit and disruption.

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"Virtually every company with OT needs to rethink its cybersecurity strategy," said Damiano Bolzoni, founder and CEO of SecurityMatters. "After partnering with ForeScout for the last year, it became clear that we shared the same vision. Now as a single company, we will be able to accelerate our momentum and create the industry's first capability to truly segment IT and OT environments."

In October, ForeScout announced a partnership with industrial cybersecurity firm Belden. The companies said the strategic partnership would provide "secure network access, comprehensive device visibility, and dynamic network segmentation capabilities" to customers.

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