Mitsubishi Electric, Nozomi to expand OT security business for enhanced system security and availability

March 15, 2024

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation announced Thursday that it has reached an agreement with Nozomi Networks Inc., a developer and distributor of operational technology (OT) security solutions, to pursue OT security initiatives including marketing and technical development jointly.

As part of the agreement, Mitsubishi Electric has acquired an equity stake in Nozomi Networks.

Mitsubishi Electric will integrate its factory automation (FA) equipment and OT security solutions with Nozomi Networks’ OT network visualization and intrusion-detection technologies to create OT security solutions that enhance both robust security and continuous system operation. In addition, comprehensive OT security measures ranging from visualization/intrusion detection to network defense and remote access will be realized by incorporating the products and technologies of Mitsubishi Electric partners TXOne (since December 2023) and Dispel (since February 2024).

By providing more secure environments for the use of OT data, Mitsubishi Electric aims to accelerate digital manufacturing using data throughout entire product lifecycles, from design and installation to operation and maintenance, and thereby strengthen the company’s Circular Digital-Engineering business.

Mitsubishi Electric offers one-stop OT security solutions to protect manufacturing sites from cyberattacks. The company has extensive experience with IT security technologies for various industries including finance, and in-depth knowledge of control equipment and systems, especially for manufacturing, which it provides through a full range of services, from assessment and consulting to countermeasures and operational support.

Nozomi provides OT security solutions for a wide range of customers in fields such as manufacturing, energy, transportation, and critical infrastructure. Specific offerings include OT network and endpoint-visibility technologies and intrusion-detection technologies for OT environments. Nozomi Networks has a strong presence in the United States, Europe, and Japan.

“OT security is essential to the ongoing digital transformation of Mitsubishi Electric’s business. Combining our manufacturing-control and information-system security technologies with Nozomi Networks’ visualization and intrusion-detection technologies, we look forward to creating secure OT environments and advancing the use of data across society,” said Kunihiko Kaga, Mitsubishi Electric’s Representative Executive Officer and Industry & Mobility Business Area Owner. “By fusing knowledge and co-creation both within and outside the Mitsubishi Electric group, we are committed to transforming into a Circular Digital-Engineering company capable of contributing to a safer, more secure, and more sustainable society.”

“Mitsubishi Electric and Nozomi Networks share a vision about how the right data and analytics can unleash important operational and cybersecurity improvements. In today’s threat environment and economic conditions, critical infrastructure operators around the world need both more than ever,” said Edgard Capdevielle, CEO of Nozomi Networks. “We are proud to partner with Mitsubishi Electric and their team of innovation leaders – and honored to have their investment. Together we will deliver advanced cybersecurity solutions that can scale easily across heterogeneous industrial and critical infrastructure environments.”

Onsite equipment and systems are increasingly being connected to the internet and other networks as manufacturing facilities and infrastructure shift to IoT and digital transformation, which is raising the importance of security measures for OT as well as IT. OT security encompasses diverse control devices, such as programmable logic controllers and robots, making it increasingly challenging to understand entire systems and ensure continuous system operation fully. Such complexity makes it difficult to apply uniform security measures and to easily stop or disconnect a system when an anomaly is detected.