Deloitte has set up a Cyber Intelligence Centre in Sydney, offering round-the-clock support and services.

Its work involves intelligence gathering, virus detection and client network monitoring.

It will co-ordinate with other centres in the Asia-Pacific region, in Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and India. There are plans to open one in Hong Kong next year.

“Our global and local ambition at Deloitte is to share active real-time global threat intelligence to enable businesses to get ahead of serious cyber risks and focus on their core business,” Risk Advisory Managing Partner Harvey Christophers said.

Cyber threats have changed the way companies manage IT budgets, with many realising secure firewalls and the best anti-malware systems cannot deter hackers.

“What will increase is the amount they spend on monitoring and response, and that is where the Cyber Intelligence Centre will help them,” Asia-Pacific Cyber Risk Leader James Nunn-Price told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“You can’t secure everything, therefore you need to assume at some point someone will get in and you need to check… it’s about being vigilant.”

Corporate spending on IT security in the Asia-Pacific region, including Australia, is expected to rise from $US71 billion ($98.3 billion) last year to $US170 billion ($235.3 billion) by 2020.