July 18 (Bloomberg) -- Oracle Corp., the world's third- biggest software maker, agreed to buy closely held Bharosa Inc., an acquisition that will add fraud and identity-theft detection programs to its security products.

The transaction is scheduled to close in August, Redwood City, California-based Oracle said today in a statement. The company didn't disclose financial details.

Bharosa, which has 25 million users, is Oracle's 32nd purchase since its $10.3 billion takeover of PeopleSoft Inc. in January 2005. Oracle Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison has spent more than $25 billion on the deals, making the company the most acquisitive in the software industry.

Oracle is taking steps to strengthen the security of its products. The company yesterday issued 45 fixes to security holes found in its databases, business-management programs and its software that connects computer servers. The Oracle 11g database, released last week, also adds security features, such as the ability to encrypt data and to track changes to files.

Shares of Oracle rose 3 cents to $20.41 at 4 p.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The stock had risen 19 percent this year.

With Bharosa, Oracle gains software that confirms the identity of users entering corporate networks via mobile devices. It also analyzes employees' activities on corporate networks and notifies managers when a user's actions suggest fraud. Bharosa's customers include the U.S. Air Force, Wells Fargo & Co. and National City Corp., according to Bharosa's Web site.

The need for security is growing, according to Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a San Diego-based consumer group that tracks security breaches. More than 158 million personal records containing confidential information have been stolen since January 2005, the group said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Amy Thomson in New York at athomson6@bloomberg.net; Rochelle Garner in San Francisco at rgarner4@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 18, 2007 16:14 EDT