2009 was a difficult year for many in IT and security. Job insecurity, financial market fluctuations, and hard budget decisions were on almost everyone's plate. Yet hackers didn't stand still; instead they managed to crank out over 25 million pieces of malware (according to recent reports from PandaLabs). In 2010, IT & security will need to hone in their skills to deal with new platforms and new threats. Targeted attacks are increasing, as is the use of social networking by all.

My advice: remain vigilant and communicate with your stakeholders both up AND down the chain (users, executives, employees, etc).