Symantec has announced the opening of its new office and Security Operations Centre (SOC) in Sydney as the company readies to embark on its 25th year in Australia.

Symantec has invested close to AUD$12 million in the newly expanded office and Security Operations Centre, reaffirming its commitment to Australian customers and partners and positioning the company to better support future Government IT cybersecurity initiatives.

“Nearly a quarter of a century has passed since Symantec first established its roots in Sydney," says Brenton Smith, vice president and managing director, Pacific region, Symantec.

"From a handful of employees at Birkenhead Point, Symantec now has eight offices, with more than 500 staff across Australia and New Zealand.

"Both Symantec and our Norton business have a strong footprint in the Pacific region with an extensive network of customers and partners."

“Symantec’s new office in Kent Street, Sydney represents the importance of the Pacific region to Symantec and our commitment to expand our presence in this region.

"The new office is a collaborative environment in an impressive location and we’re excited to open our doors to our staff, customers, partners and the wider IT industry to use this workspace to help better serve the needs of our customers and partners and stay one step ahead of the ever-changing IT world."

Adrian Jones, senior vice president, Asia Pacific and Japan, Symantec was present for the office opening and says: “Our investment in Australia is another step forward in strengthening our organisation and accelerating the pace of our transformation.

"We have recently announced changes to our technology portfolio, partner strategy and today we are announcing, investment in our workplace facilities.

“Symantec remains committed to protecting, securing and managing our customers’ information, wherever it lives.

"We will continue to provide faster and better protection for our customers by leveraging our global footprint and the telemetry we gather from the millions of endpoints and systems that make up our Global Intelligence Network."

Paul Fletcher MP, Federal Member for Bradfield, and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Communications also joined Symantec senior executives at the official opening earlier today.

“Symantec’s decision to build a new Sydney office is the latest in a growing trend of IT companies that have chosen Sydney as the place to expand their business," Fletcher says.

"It is great to see such a significant investment in the future of cybersecurity in our country.

"I welcome Symantec to its new Sydney office and congratulate the company on its decision to continue to expand in Australia and grow its business."

One of the key highlights of the new office is the Security Operations Centre which is doubling in size and capacity to meet the growing demand from customers for protection against advanced persistent threats in this region.

“Symantec operates the world's largest civilian cyber intelligence threat network," adds Samir Kapuria, vice president, Cyber Security Group, Symantec.

"We track about 4 trillion threat indicators from hundreds of millions of mobile devices, endpoints and servers across the globe and last year we identified 1 trillion security incidents."

“It’s this visibility into empirical, real-world customer data that enables the Security Operations Centre to offer such breadth of data, accurate threat detection, and proactive notification of emerging threats to ensure customer’s most sensitive data is protected.”