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Cyber criminals are moving to assembly-line production of malware, where they simply re-package existing Trojans to bypass security software, the firm claims. "Virus writers are pretty much relying on tried and tested techniques," says David Emm, senior technology consultant at Kaspersky. "Why? Because it works. They'll take the path of least resistance."

However, the company warns malware writers are increasingly turning their attention to mobile devices. "In the past quarter, the first SMS Trojan for Symbian was detected," says Alexander Gostev, Senior Virus Analyst at Kaspersky Lab, referring to the Trojan that sends text messages to fee-based numbers. Gostev believes the iPhone will be particularly targeted.

"The popularity of the iPhone, the availability of documentation for its operating system [OS X] and the existence of vulnerabilities in the system all mean that a threat for this smartphone is already a reality, although there are also reasons to be optimistic," he says, not least because no-one was able to exploit these vulnerabilities before

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Apple released a fix.

In fact the report emphasises that Apples' much-criticised decision not to enable Bluetooth file transfer or MMS on the phone makes things much more difficult for virus writers.

"Bluetooth cannot be used to transfer files or synchronise the phone with a personal computer. This peculiarity makes the possibility of worms like Cabir (which targeted Symbian) questionable. The lack of Bluetooth file transfer capabilities will likely deprive any future worms of their key mode of transportation," it says.

Much of the rest of the report is concerned with the recent cyber war between Russia and Estonia. While the argument was eventually resolved, Kaspersky believes that lessons need to be learnt and action to be taken, even if that means restricting internet freedom.

"While search engines and governments around the world introduce various restrictions on the access to information on the internet about 'how to make the bomb', the question of cyber terrorism is not being discussed enough in terms of the actual state of affairs," the report says. "Kaspersky Lab has always held the opinion that the publication and discussion of different ways to eliminate the vital functions of a target cannot be described as anything but reprehensible. There is no doubt that any such information could provoke certain extremist groups to attempt to spark off a similar scenario."

The Malware Evolution: April - June 2007 report can be read online.