International cyber criminals are costing the British economy “billions of pounds” every year through activities such as industrial espionage and credit card fraud, senior Whitehall officials admitted yesterday.

They made the disclosure as they unveiled plans to bolster national defences against online attacks.

The establishment of a Cyber Security Operations Centre – attached to GCHQ, the government's electronic listening post in Cheltenham – is an admission by the government that it must do more to counter perceived threats from countries such as China and Russia, terrorist groups, criminal gangs and malicious hackers.

The new facility is the centrepiece of the government's updated national security strategy, unveiled by Gordon Brown yesterday.

The prime minister is also setting up a separate Office of Cyber Security to co-ordinate Whitehall policy under a senior official, Neil Thompson, with staff recruited from MI5, MI6 and other government agencies.

The security services are developing the ability to launch attacks against hostile agents, Lord West, the security minister, disclosed.

Lord West played down the immediate threat of cyber warfare against UK government departments, arguing that he was “not aware of any key piece of information that I would be really worried about” that had been stolen.

Whitehall officials seemed more concerned about the threat to business and the banking system, revealing that BT was facing 1,000 online attacks a day. Mr Thompson will work with industry to combat cyber-crime, officials say, while the Cheltenham centre will monitor and counter cyber attacks – providing valuable data to companies on the nature of the threat.

The authors of the new cyber strategy estimate that £50bn is spent online every year. Jonathan Evans, head of MI5, has given warning about Chinese and Russian hackers targeting the UK financial system.

Lord West also cited attacks originating from China aimed at stealing industrial secrets from companies such as Rolls-Royce.