Computeractive review of 2007

It's Christmas time, there's no need to be afraid. We have made it.

True 2008 looks like it might be a little messy for most thanks to the credit crunch, but 2007 had its own interesting moments, some good and some not so good.

We have had new products that should have captured the imagination but didn't, and those that did but could be labelled a triumph of hype over substance.

We wondered if we are getting what we pay for sometimes. We had scandals galore and, more than ever, security became an over riding issue.

We take a quick look back at some of the major trends that dominated 2007.

Online threats
The year 2007 will probably go down as the year the net got really nasty. It was a dangerous time to be online as the web became the domain of the cyber-criminal. As usual, the crooks seemed to be one step ahead of the game and, as people became more aware of the dangers lurking in unsolicited emails, turned their attention elsewhere.

This year the biggest threat to internet users has been infected websites; these don't have to be dodgy porn sites either. Security company Network Box saw a marked increase in infected sites in 2007; it said in excess of 200 per cent compared to 2006.

One of Symantec's senior managers, Kevin Hogan, warned: "Web pages that people access through their browser are now becoming the predominant means by which malware is getting installed on systems."

The hackers are also learning to duck and dive by constantly changing the codes in their malware and launching smaller, tailored attacks in order to try to go undetected by security companies.

McAfee's Avert Labs said by the end of 2007 the total number of unique malware it has tracked will reach 360,000. Driven by financial gain and enabled by easy access to malicious codes, the bad guys are in full swing.

The company's Toralv Dirro said: "Criminals are never at a loss for new materials. With malware authors releasing new variants at a blazing pace, we expect that 2008 will be another record year of malware."