According to a report by IBM's Global Security Intelligence Services team released in February 2005, e-mail-based worms and viruses wreaked havoc on corporate networks in 2004. E-mail worms such as Bagle, Netsky, and Mydoom led the pack in the number of variants and overall impact. During the latter part of 2004, a growing number of viruses aimed at PDAs and other mobile devices, such as the Cabir worm, were released. It is likely that such worms will be used by copycats and may spur an epidemic of viruses aimed at mobile devices.

IBM's Global Business Security Index report includes an early view of potential trends in 2005.
Mobile devices: Devices such as PDAs and cell phones are the new frontier for viruses, spam, and other potential security threats. Bluetooth and other wireless technologies that connect mobile devices pose new exposures for hackers to target.
Identity theft: There appears to be no end in sight for identity theft. Phishing attacks that use 'spoofed' e-mails and fraudulent websites designed to deceive recipients into divulging personal information such as credit card numbers, account user names and passwords, social security numbers, etc. will likely continue to plague businesses and consumers.
Malware: Malicious software (called malware) writers are getting smarter and are employing basic software development practices to spread destructive software.
Instant messaging: Botnets will likely move to instant messaging networks for command and control of infected systems.
VoIP: There will likely be an increase in the disruption of VoIP networks. In particular, eavesdropping and denial of service attacks carried out remotely against VoIP networks could provide significant damage for enterprise organizations.

The report summarized the following assessment regarding 2004
Viruses: They are on the upswing despite extensive efforts to contain them. The number of known viruses grew considerably in 2004.
Spam: Despite The CAN-SPAM Act, spam has continued to proliferate. It is estimated that a majority of all e-mail traffic on the Internet is spam.
Phishing: It continued to grow in 2004.
Natural disasters: The tsunami that impacted three continents in the Indian Ocean ended a devastating year of natural disasters. Hurricanes in North America, typhoons in Asia, and numerous other events around the world impacted lives and property. For corporations, the safety of their employees, their property, and IT environments is of serious concern. The events of 2004 highlighted the need for all organizations to have a continuity and disaster recovery plan in place.
Digital images: The year 2004 ushered in a new era of vulnerabilities that affected digital picture formats such as JPEG and BMP. Typically seen as benign files, hackers have discovered ways to embed malicious code in pictures in order to attack a number of different applications used to render images. Clicking on an infected image could set off a virus or worm without the user's knowledge.