Here's one way to take the spotlight off the Mark Hurd near-scandal: Make a dazzling software company purchase. Hewlett-Packard will pay $1.5 billion for ArcSight, a huge premium, reports ZDnet. But the firm is convinced it will be worth it. The purchase will round out is growing suite of compliance and security-oriented software and cloud services.

The deal is in keeping with previous eye-catching purchases, for Fortify Software and Stratavia, notes ZDnet. The first allowed H-P to acquire a line-by-line security analysis tool that searches for flaws in code that may result in security or compliance problems. The Stratavia deal allowed H-P to offer software that allows for automation in the deployment of applications across hybrid cloud environments.

"And today's announcement, ArcSight, gives them widely regarded security, compliance and network monitoring tools," writes ZDnet. "All of which are critical components of full blown cloud service offerings."

The deal furthers the trend toward niche security companies being purchased by established companies seeking to round out their portfolios. Intel recently announced a deal to buy McAfee for $7.6 billion. Other possible targets include Symantec, Sourcefire, Fortinet Inc., Vasco Data Security, Check Point Software and Websense.

The ArcSight deal was good news for the CIA, as In-Q-Tel was an early investor.  

For more:
- here's the article
- here's some background

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