IBM, the world's largest technology services company, announced plans on Wednesday to buy privately held security and compliance testing software company Watchfire for an undisclosed amount.
The deal is expected to close in the third quarter, IBM said in a statement.
IBM said Watchfire's technology would be combined with IBM's Rational software products, which let users conduct performance tests while developing software.
Watchfire's expertise in Web application security would help customers reduce security risks and ensure compliance with industry and government regulations early in the software development process, IBM said.
Top technology companies, including Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Google, have been acquiring security companies to protect customers from malicious-software attacks and spam.
