Publicly traded industrial technology company Rockwell Automation announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Verve Industrial Protection, an operational technology (OT) security vendor. The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024, subject to customary approvals, although the value of the deal has not been disclosed.

Verve will become part of Rockwell’s Lifecycle Services unit, adding asset inventory and vulnerability management to its capabilities. Rockwell currently offers a range of security products and services, including threat detection, secure access, incident response and recovery, secure network planning, assessment, and advisory.

Verve operates a managed OT security platform that provides asset inventory, vulnerability management, patch and configuration management, SIEM, incident response, and backup capabilities, as well as network segmentation, security assessment, and consulting services.

Analyst QuickTake: Rockwell’s acquisition of Verve mirrors a move by Honeywell in the OT security space; it acquired IoT and OT security firm SCADAfence in July 2023 to enhance the capabilities of its Forge Cybersecurity+ platform.