The Waltham, Massachusetts-based developer of application security testing utilities is well thought of in the IT security industry, Infosecurity notes.

The company mainly focuses on static application security testing, as well as governance risk and compliance advisory services.

Despite the current economic woes affecting the US, the firm has reported year-over-year quarterly bookings as growing 80 percent during Q2 2009 and up 60 percent during Q1.

Financial details of the acquisition of this privately-held firm have not been revealed, but some media reports suggest the investment will give Ounce the chance to boost its research arm, which will be folded into IBM's Rational Software division.

"Secure applications are vital to information integrity and continuity in government and business. The complexity of today's systems and the sophistication of attacks require comprehensive technology, said Dr. Daniel Sabbah, general manager of IBM Rational Software.

"The acquisition of Ounce Labs allows IBM to provide customers an end-to-end application security testing solution for managing security and compliance across all stages of the software delivery process," he added.

With the acquisition IBM says it hopes to better round out its application security offerings so that Rational can offer a full range of analysis throughout the software development lifecycle.