Industry News: Expanding Dangerous Gas Detection Programs with Robotic Dogs
See Spot Sniff Out Dangerous Gases
Monitoring for dangerous gases in industrial work environments traditionally involves personnel who wear personal sensors. But an expanded connected gas detection program offers a new approach, enabling teams to use multiple sources to collect gas data, including personal monitors, area monitors, and remote systems like robots and drones.
Safety technology provider Blackline Safety Corp. partnered with MFE Inspection Solutions to integrate a cloud-connected portable detector with Boston Dynamics’ Spot, a mobile industrial robot. Equipped Spot robots can instantly deliver gas readings, alerts, and location data to remote monitoring teams from the field, reducing the risk associated with sending people into potentially dangerous areas.
The partnership also identified different environments and applications for the outfitted Spot, including monitoring levels of combustible, corrosive, or toxic gases like methane for oil and gas operators; ammonia in semiconductor facilities; and hydrogen sulfide, carbon monoxide, or sulfur dioxide in chemical processing plants.
Mergers & Moves
Motorola Solutions // D-Fend Solutions
Motorola entered into a definitive agreement to purchase D-Fend Solutions, a counter-drone technology provider, for $1.5 billion. The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approvals and other standard closing conditions.
Tyto Athene, LLC // Ready Support Services, LLC
Tyto Athene, a federal systems integrator of mission-focused digital transformation solutions, completed its acquisition of Ready Support Services, a provider of mission-tailored enterprise service management and cloud migration for U.S. intelligence agencies. The acquisition expands Tyto Athene’s presence across the intelligence community.
Zeus Fire and Security // SEi
In acquiring SEi, Zeus will create a Midwest U.S. hub for access control, fire protection, monitoring solutions, and video surveillance.
Convergint // JSC
Tech-enabled security and systems integration leader Convergint bought JSC Systems, a business solutions provider for fire and life safety, security, and communications. The acquisition expands Convergint’s ability to provide users with end-to-end solutions for A/V systems, fire alarm, intercom, and structured cabling.
F5 // Surepath AI
F5 acquired Surepath AI—which focuses on network-based artificial intelligence (AI) discovery, intent classification, and shadow AI detection—as part of the launch of its new AI Security Platform. The platform is designed to give CISOs greater visibility, governance, and protection across enterprise AI applications.
Woven Solutions // Insignis
AI-enabled mission software for the national security community Woven Solutions announced its acquisition of Insignis, a specialized provider of systems engineering and software development solutions that support critical cyber operations.
Contracts
The Peterborough Regional Health Centre in Ontario, Canada, selected Xtract One Technologies’ SmartGateway system to detect a broad range and large volume of weapons at facility entrances.
The Los Angeles City Council awarded a contract to the Verra Mobility Corporation for the design, buildings, operation, and maintenance of a speed safety program across the city and county of Los Angeles, California. With the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, Verra will implement speed safety systems at 125 locations along high injury and frequent crash corridors.
Reports
Business insurance provider CompScience released a new white paper, From Boomers to Zoomers: Rethinking Safety Training for a Multi-Generational Workforce. The report analyzes the convergence of various generations in the workforce.
Roughly 60 percent of airport and critical infrastructure operators around the world said they lack the legal authority to take direct mitigation action against unauthorized drones, according to DroneShield’s latest report, Airspace Under Pressure: A Global Assessment of Counter-UAS Readiness Across Airports and Critical Infrastructure.
New research from Economist Enterprise—Power without control: Rethinking cybersecurity for the age of agentic AI—found that 90 percent of business leaders are deploying AI agents faster than their security teams can evaluate or manage them.
Barracuda’s managed XDR red team released research demonstrating that a trusted business process can be weaponized by attackers within as little as 5 minutes, illustrating how modern attacks increasingly exploit trusted workflows and authenticated sessions.
The Coalition Against Piracy (an initiative from the Asia Video Industry Association) released a study finding that nearly half of tested illicit streaming apps used in Asia-Pacific have malware, meaning that users of pirated streaming services in the region are exposing themselves to financial, privacy, and cybersecurity risks. The study, Consumer Harms and Fraud Pathways in Asia-Pacific’s Illicit Streaming Economy, provides the first comprehensive analysis of the consumer risks associated with digital piracy in the region.
Partnerships
Port security. Convergint and VuWall partnered to support day-to-day operations and large-scale events at the Port of Los Angeles, one of the busiest seaports in North America. The partnership aims to modernize video wall operations across several control rooms.
Campus security. ZeroEyes and High Tech High, a charter school network in San Diego County, California, are collaborating to protect students, staff, and visitors from gun-related threats. The network of schools began integrating ZeroEyes’ AI detection and intelligent situational awareness software in September 2023 and have expanded that deployment in response to positive feedback from law enforcement and parents.
