International Business Machines (IBM) announced its intention to acquire Fiberlink Communications for its mobile device management (MDM).This is IBM's eight acquisition in 18 months, according to a report published by VentureBeat.

The said deal is expected to be completed this year. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, the report said.

Fiberlink has a cloud-based MDM solution and application management that operates under the brand MaaS360. The brand also offers a way to separate work from personal data and apps, the report explained. 

Caleb Barlow, mobile security director of IBM, told VentureBeat: "It's not just about BYOD [bring your own device]. It's about how do I protect the device, how do I protect the transactions, and how do I roll that all into a secure intelligence layer."

At present, Fiberlink employs about 400 people all over the world. The company caters to about 2,500 clients in the banking, manufacturing, and healthcare industry. Fiberlink's most prominent customers include Vodafone, MasterCard, and Shell, VentureBeat reported.