The region is poaching staff in a bid to become the world's IT security centre

Soaring salaries for IT security professionals are attracting experts to the Middle East, as the region aims to beome the world's IT security centre.

Salaries will hit $15,000 (£7,600) a month during 2008, driving a massive global skills migration, according to research by supplier Oger Systems.

Wages in the Middle-East region are easily surpassing those in the West, said David Michaux, a divisional manager at Oger Systems.

“Not only are our successful applicants earning in a tax-free environment, but they are on multiples of the rates they were being paid back home," he said.

“If their home countries can’t or won’t pay them competitive rates, they have reason not to move. And they’re coming here in the thousands."

Middle Eastern security firms are attracting applicants from as far afield as Korea and Brazil, while the weak US dollar is deterring European staff from crossing the Atlantic.

But Germany and the US are still paying the highest salaries to security staff, where the highest average rates are between $4,500 (£2,300) and $5,000 (£2,500) a month. Malaysia pays the lowest monthly rates, offering an average of $2,000 (£1,000).