Nozomi Networks recently announced the industry’s first OT and IoT security sensor that runs embedded in Mitsubishi Electric programmable logic controllers (PLCs). With Arc Embedded, security and operations teams gain previously unavailable visibility at the process level of their industrial automation equipment and field assets as well as the ability to analyze and deter process level threats and malicious user activity without impacting current resources or disrupting mission-critical networks. As a result, organizations benefit from greater operational resilience and uptime, reduced cyber risk, and better compliance.
“We’re honored to partner with innovator and industry leader Mitsubishi Electric to bring Arc Embedded to their PLCs,” said Nozomi Networks Co-founder and CPO Andrea Carcano. “Arc Embedded can transform how CISOs manage and protect critical infrastructure, extending security to and through industrial control systems, down to the field assets they manage.”
“Mitsubishi Electric is the perfect partner for this initiative, thanks to its passion for innovation and an unmatched understanding of automation,” continued Carcano. “Through our joint work, customers in a variety of industries can feel confident deploying Arc Embedded in Mitsubishi Electric PLCs, strengthening security all the way to the physical process. This is a revolutionary approach that makes it possible to extend in-depth real-time monitoring of assets, network traffic, anomaly detection, and threat identification directly to process controls. Ultimately, it improves the safety, security, and reliability of the automation processes we depend upon and sparks the imagination for what’s possible when advanced security is embedded at the device level.”
“Solutions that provide robust OT security and continuous system operation are a priority in Mitsubishi Electric’s ongoing digital transformation,” said Kunihiko Kaga, Mitsubishi Electric’s Representative Executive Officer and Industry & Mobility Business Area Owner. “Combining Mitsubishi Electric’s manufacturing-control and information-system security technologies with Nozomi Networks’ visualization and intrusion-detection technologies, allows us both to contribute to a safer, more secure and more sustainable society.”
A PLC is an industrial digital computer designed to automate manufacturing processes, ensuring high reliability and ease of programming. Widely used across various industries, PLCs enhance operational efficiency by providing real-time processing and control in harsh environments. Mitsubishi Electric’s MELSEC iQ-R family of PLCs are among the most modern and advanced in the world, which facilitated the development of this new embedded security solution.
The PLC market is expected to reach $22 billion by 2030 as more industries embrace and expand their use of automation, driving the need for better control-level cybersecurity. Recent CISA advisories on attempted PLC exploits are a harsh reminder that a related attack could shut down production, or cause a public safety crisis.
Arc Embedded transforms existing industrial control systems into secure-by-design assets, offering a fully integrated security layer from an independent vendor that delivers robust, comprehensive protection for today’s in-production systems.
The newest component in Nozomi Networks’ award-winning, AI-powered OT/IoT security platform, Nozomi Arc Embedded in Mitsubishi Electric PLCs makes it possible for the first time ever for organizations to monitor east-west activity in order to detect and respond to cyber incidents at the PLC level before they can do harm or escalate across the entire industrial operations environment. This proactive approach strengthens operational resilience, reduces downtime, protects critical infrastructure, and maintains process integrity.
Arc Embedded on Mitsubishi Electric PLCs delivers:
- Real-time visibility and security from the network endpoint to the manufacturing floor to enhance data integrity, more accurately detect PLC anomalies, and detect unauthorized access (intrusions).
- AI-powered protection to provide continuous monitoring for real-time learning, faster responses to security incidents and more robust detection of known and unknown vulnerabilities.
- Innovative visibility and protection for devices connected to the PLC “backplane” to understand module health and status, normal and abnormal communications patterns, all configuration changes, and firmware integrity.
Arc Embedded is available now for Mitsubishi Electric iQ-R series PLCs via a subscription-based model, available from Mitsubishi Electric, Nozomi Networks, and an extensive global network of Nozomi Networks channel partners.