MessageLabs is expanding its Australian operations in a bid to grow its market share in the local e-mail security and anti-spam market.

The company, which operates an e-mail filtering service, has installed an AU$600,000 "control tower" in Australia designed to intercept incoming spam and malware -- malicious software, such as e-mail borne worms and viruses.

Although local infrastructure isn't required to support the service, MessageLabs Asia Pacific managing director, Nick Hawkins, says local customers are reassured by the presence of the Sydney based system -- it's been installed largely to enhance trust in the company's brand in Australia. "New and prospective users will be reassured by the presence of local infrastructure," he said in a statement.

According to Hawkins, the growth in spam and malware is creating market opportunities for security and mail filtering concerns. "Our strong business in Australia and throughout the region has been stimulated by the recent plague of viruses and the crossover between viruses and spam," he said. "Corporates are becoming acutely aware of the new perils."

When Symantec opened its security operations centre (SOC) in Sydney in March it cited similar reasons for establishing a local presence.

The company's vice-president of worldwide security services, Charlie Johnson, flew in to Sydney to launch the new facility. At the time he told ZDNet Australia  the company had been managing the security of several Australia-based clients from abroad, but in order to achieve a desirable market penetration, it needed to open a SOC locally.

"They want to feel comfortable by giving it [security management] to someone that they trust in the local market - it's just as easy to manage it out of Alexandria [in the U.S.] but people want that degree of comfort and trust," he said

Chief executive officer of Australian spam filtering company SpamTrap, Andrew Kent, says trust is an issue when operating in the local market. "We're finding that there are an awful lot of overseas products that are available locally but we do find that people feel more comfortable dealing with Australian companies that have locally based products and services," he said.

Kent says SpamTrap plans on launching its service in the US and Europe as soon as possible, but won't consider the move unless establishing a market specific presence is a viable option. "I don't think we're doing the right thing by customers unless we have a presence there," he said.

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