Not long after beating Dell in an eighteen-day bidding war over 3PAR, Hewlett-Packard is pushing on with its shopping spree. ArcSight, a security software company, is HP’s next target, with reports of plans for a $1.5 billion acquisition. That’s a 25 percent premium over ArcSight’s market value of $1.2 billion, as of last Friday.

Based in Cupertino, CA, ArcSight was founded in 2000 and currently has over 500 employees. The company provides securities for online fraud protection, among other things. ArcSight’s clients are widespread on a global scale, and range from corporations to federal organizations.

So what’s a few billion dollars when it comes to advancing HP’s company mission? Moving past computer manufacturing is a goal for HP and its competitors, particularly as virtualization and securities around these new systems take hold of enterprise, software and marketing solutions. The New York Times outlines the commotion at HP, and the company’s outlook:

“Winning 3Par gave H.P. an expanded presence in the increasingly popular world of cloud computing, which depends on access to copious amounts of data storage. Buying ArcSight would bolster H.P.’s security and network offerings. The company makes products that help governments and businesses monitor their data networks for suspicious activity.”

It’s an effort to create full-service options for businesses, as data protection is central to customer retention. Securities are growing in complexity with the virtualization trends, and will require a number of specific renditions to cover the gamut. HP and others are bulking out their securities, for their own data protection and to offer similar functionality to their clients.