For a start, expect more iPhone attacks, as well as possible attacks on Android and Maemo phones; an increase in "snowshoe spamming"; and more Black Hat search-engine optimisation (SEO) attacks via Bing and Google.

Snowshoe spamming is a technique used by spammers to spread spam output across many IPs and domains ­ just as a snowshoe spreads the load of a traveller across a wide area of snow

However, a gain in market share by Windows 7 in developed markets, including Australia, should see Windows use made considerably safer for users of the new system, says Wing Fei Chia, security response team manager at F-Secure Asia-Pacific.

This will improve Internet security in affluent countries, and may begin to create malware ghettos in less affluent countries, as cyber-criminals concentrate their efforts on the remaining installed base of Windows XP, says Wing.

Some other predictions by F-Secure:

­ The 2010 FIFA World Cup will generate a "good number" of related trojans, fake ticket shops, spam, online shop hacking, and DDoS attacks. South Africa's mobile phone networks will be a hotbed of activity during the games in June.

­ There'll be at least one large-scale DDoS attack against a nation-state.

­ More attacks against online banks with tailor-made trojans.

­ Web search results leading to "location based attacks" using geo-location IP address techniques will increase.

­ More attacks on social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Linkedln, while attacks related to poorly secured online games will continue, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.