Key logging and online phishing scams will be the main security threats this year, a McAfee whitepaper claims.

Identity theft is a growing trend, and McAfee has found that key logging has risen by 250 per cent since 2004. It also found that the number of online scam alerts had risen 100-fold - from 176 incidents in January 2004 to 17,600 in May 2006.

"Identity theft has been around for many years now,” commented Greg Day, Security Analyst at McAfee.

“As the internet has evolved, this trend has now moved into the online space where we are now seeing people falling victim to email phishing scams asking for personal details.”

Despite figures from the Home Office, which estimates that identity theft costs the UK economy £1.7bn a year, the whitepaper found that the number of claims was surprisingly low, leading McAfee to believe that the losses are not fully acknowledged by people.

Known as 'card not present' fraud, Day said many people were not as careful when using their credit card online as if physically handing it over in a shop or restaurant. “Although the internet may seem like a safer place in the sense there is not anyone physically stealing your card from under your nose, this whitepaper has shown that it is evidently not.”

However, he stressed that people shouldn’t be scared to shop or bank online, provided they take appropriate security measures.

“People should also remember that banks and other companies would never send emails requesting information. They should therefore be vigilant and make sure they don’t enter any personal details on sites they are uncomfortable or unsure about will also help. By checking their banks policy against fraud and reporting any fraud immediately people will also they get fully reimbursed for any losses.”

Other examples of carelessness which were identified by the company to lead to ID fraud included the failure to erase unwanted PC hard drives, the too-casual sharing of email addresses and sharing personal information via instant messaging.