At SecurityVibes we’ve taken a look back through the highs and the lows, the top promises and the biggest threats we saw in 2009. So sit back, grab a mince pie and ruminate on the last twelve months:

January

Fresh from the financial disasters of 2008, January was a lean time across the board. Nearly a year on there are positive signs of recovery, but not all are convinced...

February

New US President Obama revealed that his Blackberry never left his side.

March

Online espionage took on a whole new turn when academics discovered the full extent of spying operation Ghost net.

Botnets began to creep back up the agenda, as malware sophistication grew.

April

The pervasive Conficker worm rose again, to the horror of network admins everywhere.

The social networking frenzy continued apace, but will employers block access due to privacy concerns?

May

The cloud begins to become the buzzword of the year, but the number of businesses biting seems low...

Attacks on PDF files were without doubt the internet vulnerability of the year.

Offline however, Swine Flu (H1N1) became the virus that thousands caught and millions worried about.

June

The meme that SEO poisoning has become continued apace...

...while Data Leak Prevention systems began to hit the headlines.

July

Just as Microsoft threw free anti-virus vendors into confusion with the launch of Security Essentials, mobile phones were coming under increasing scrutiny.

August

The SecurityVibes cybercrime expose - everything you wanted to know, but were afraid to ask...

September

The security services scored a series of successes while the government began a detailed review of UK telecomms resilience.

October

The mobile security story hit the headlines for the second time, while RFID concerns were aired.

November

SecurityVibes very own 'Cafe' functionality launched, allowing you to establish mini-forums, post and digest the latest news and events.

Meanwhile, the world's first mobile botnet hit the web - at least the Apple iPhone corner of it..

December

A hectic end to a busy year, with the ICO watchdog launching a consultation on new privacy guidelines for industry, as well as increasing interest in DLP technology.

2010?

Next year will undoubtedly be a challenging time too, with threats only likely to accelerate and multiply, and technology vendors potentially becoming more aggressive to compensate for recession losses. Look forward to working with you then...