Belden continued its plans of maintaining, and expanding, its lead in the industrial networking space with the recent acquisition of Byres Security Inc. (BSI). BSI’s award winning Tofino™ Security product line will strengthen Belden’s leadership in industrial networking solutions, and the deal will lead to higher investment in Tofino Security technology. BSI will continue to operate independently as a business unit under Belden and its security solutions will most likely be used with Hirschamann's and GarrettCom's branded industrial networking products. The Tofino Security brand remains. The result will be enhanced cyber security for critical industrial automation systems.
It appears that Byres Security can thank the creators of the Stuxnet cyber attack (speculation is that elements of US and Israel governments wanted to thwart Iran's nuclear plans) for the renewed interest in securing industrial automation networks and the acquisition by Belden. Although no details were provided one could speculate that BSI will receive much needed funding for new product development, channel expansion and perhaps a windfall for the husband and wife team that owned the firm.
Although most of VDC's coverage related to security issues as part of its Industrial Networking Infrastructure Products Market Intelligence program dealt with security concerns related to wireless networks, the concern over securing networks and data integrity is also as important factor among wireline networking operations. Belden's ability to market its industrial networking products as “Secured by Tofino” may provide a similar marketing advantage along the lines of "Intel Inside" did for PC suppliers.
Based on VDC's extensive research the markets for wireline and wireless industrial networking infrastructure products will grow at CAGRs of over 20% and 28%, respectively through 2015. It is our belief that the spending on industrial automation related security solutions will grow at even faster rates as a large share of the market is most likely lacking sufficient levels of security to fully protect their automation networks and equipment.
Belden's acquisition will help secure its dominance in industrial networking solutions by further cementing its capabilities in being a supplier of a comprehensive portfolio of networking solutions, of which security related solutions are a major component.
Comments