HP has a history with Fortify Software, as the two companies previously collaborated on the Hybrid 2.0 advanced security analysis product. Now HP plans to bring the San Mateo, Calif.-based company into its fold, along with its portfolio of software security offerings.

Fortify focuses on automated tools to develop and maintain secure applications, a product line that has taken on importance as the application layer – especially web-facing apps – have come under fire as an increasingly popular attack vector.

“Businesses operate in a world of increasing security and compliance challenges, and the applications and services that they rely on are core to the problem and the solution,” said Bill Veghte, executive VP for HP’s Software and Solutions division, in a press release statement.

“Fortify has always been committed to helping chief information security officers and application teams find, fix and prevent security vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by attackers,” added Fortify CEO John M. Jack in the same statement. “Joining HP will allow us to further integrate our proven technology and security expertise with HP’s solutions, letting our joint clients shrink the time-to-security for their new and existing production applications.”

HP said it will operate Fortify as a stand-alone company at first to ensure its targeted focus on the security market, in addition to maintaining operational continuity. Over time, HP said it plans to integrate Fortify into its Business Technology Optimization unit. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.