Claroty records record growth in Asia Pacific

Global network protection vendor Claroty has recorded octuple annual recurring revenue growth year-over-year in the Asia Pacific region including Japan, from the first half of 2019 to the first half of 2020, fuelled by “growing demand for critical infrastructure security in the region”.

Announcing its first half 2020 results on Wednesday, Claroty said the company had gained “exceptional momentum in the ANZ region specifically”, with annual recurring revenue growing tenfold from 1H 2019 to 1H 2020, with the majority of this growth occurringin the key industries of water and waste management, mining, and electrical distribution.

“Claroty’s business grew in almost all markets across APJ, including Australia, Korea, Taiwan, and the ASEAN region, where spending on cyber security is exponentially rising and is expected to triple over the next five years to some US$5 billion by 2025,” Claroty said.

“Contributing to Claroty’s growth is the Australian government’s increased investments in cybersecurity for critical infrastructure, as well as surging demand for secure remote access solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Another growth driver is the company’s partnership with Deloitte, which combines Claroty’s software with Deloitte’s expertise to boost cybersecurity in industrial technology systems across Australia, China, Hong Kong SAR, and Singapore.”

Eddie Stefanescu, Regional Vice President, Business, APJ at Claroty, says, “Even in today’s unprecedented global health and economic challenges, the strength of Claroty’s portfolio and go-to-market capabilities has enabled us to achieve incredible growth in our core markets, as well as satisfy customers in new verticals of national interest.”

“Overall, we’re seeing remarkable growth because our customers are prioritising the protection of remote access to their critical infrastructure. They see value in Claroty’s solutions, as they can be rapidly deployed to integrate seamlessly their own IT security tools. This means that we can help protect their OT without entailing a steep learning curve.”

Claroty says the company’s growth aligns with the Australian’s 2020 Cybersecurity Strategy, which prioritises the protection of the country’s essential services and sets out a new security framework with obligations for critical infrastructure providers.

“The Australian Cyber Security Centre, in the year preceding 30 June 2020, over a third (35%) of all reported cyber incidents impacted critical infrastructure providers, which are responsible for delivering essential services including healthcare, education, water, communications, transport, and energy.

“To curb this alarming figure, $66.5 million of the Australian government’s $1.67 billion investment in cybersecurity will go directly to assisting Australia’s major critical infrastructure providers to assess vulnerabilities to enhance their cybersecurity posture.

“Remote access will also remain a priority for the rest of 2020 in Australia, with the recent highly-publicised cyber-attacks on Australia’s hospital system and logistics giant TOLL Group still front in mind.

“Consequently, despite overall budget cuts this year, organisations are still spending on critical infrastructure to secure their most critical assets, whereas spending on fleet deals that cover the entire enterprise has been somewhat curtailed.”

With mandatory lockdowns in place across most of Australia this year, securing remote access to industrial networks has become a significant priority.

“As a result, Claroty has seen increasing demand for its Secure Remote Access (SRA) solution, which helps critical infrastructure operators to enable staff to work from home while deploying sufficient resources to protect their infrastructure.

“Unique to Claroty, SRA provides a single, secure and clientless interface through which all external users connect prior to performing software upgrades, periodic maintenance, and other support activities on assets within OT networks.”

Claroty’s research team’s Biannual ICS Risk & Vulnerability Report: 1H 2020 revealed that more than 70% of industrial control system (ICS) vulnerabilities disclosed in 1H 2020 can be exploited remotely, noting that energy, critical manufacturing, and water & wastewater infrastructure were the most impacted sectors.

“Claroty researchers also recently disclosed vulnerabilities in VPN products commonly used in field-based industries, such as oil & gas and utilities, which could lead to a complete security breach of industrial control networks. These discoveries underscore the importance of protecting internet-facing ICS devices and remote access connections.”