Businesses must take more responsibility for corporate security because funding for electronic policing will not increase, economists have warned.

Organisations must work on the basis that prevention is better than cure and not rely on over-stretched police resources, according to Peter Sommer, senior research fellow at the London School of Economics.

"The implication for corporate security is that you cannot expect the police to address all problems of security failure," he said.

"Prevention is much better, and you need to consider what it's like to be a security victim. You also have to know that very substantial real funding for cyber-crime is unlikely."

Some £9bn is spent on UK policing annually, with computer crime divisions such as the National Hi-Tech Crime Unit (NHTCU) competing against scores of other divisions for funding.

When it comes to cyber-crime, Sommer suggested, the average person would rather see money spent on combating crimes such as child pornography, rather than nuisance hackers.

A spokesman for the NHTCU said: "Funding is absolutely critical in the fight against crime, particularly hi-tech crime."