The expanding world of technology firms fighting cyber-criminals has created a new, specialist area for investors to exploit via an ETF launched yesterday.

The ever-expanding world of exchange traded funds took another turn yesterday with news that a fund that tracks performance of firms trying to defeat cyber-criminals is being launched.

ETF Securities has partnered with ISE ETF Ventures, which provides investment indices, to roll out the ETFS ISE Cyber Security GO UCITS ETF; this has now been listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The companies hope this European ETF can provide investors with a cheap and efficient way to exploit an expected compound growth rate in anti-cybercrime firms of 9.8 per cent between now and 2020, reaching a total of $170 billion by that date.

“With 42.8 million cyber attacks in 2014 and global cyber-crime costing an estimated $400 billion[ii] this is a sector we can expect to dominate headlines and corporate budgets,” Kris Monaco, head of ISE ETF Ventures, said.

Since 2009, reported cyber security incidents have grown at the year-on-year compound annual growth rate of 66 per cent, the firms said.

Tech research company Gartner predicts that by 2018 more than half of organisations will use security services to ward off attacks and improve security.