According to security firm McAfee’s ‘2011 Threats Predictions’, recently published by the L. A. Times, the coming year will witness an increase in cyber-attacks against Apple devices. The report by McAfee researchers states that the key targets of hacking attacks in 2011 will largely be the most talked about online platforms like the Apple iPhone, Google TV, and foursquare.

Going by the predictions made by the researchers at McAfee Labs, the “marked” rise in malware sophistication is also likely to continue in 2011; and cyber-criminals will chiefly exploit social networking tools, geo-location services, and mobile devices.

Noting that networking services to be increasingly leveraged by the hackers for enticing users to malicious Web sites, the report by the McAfee researchers said: “Although historically not a frequently targeted platform by malicious attackers, the Mac operating system is very widely deployed. McAfee Labs saw malware of increasing sophistication that targets Mac this year; we expect this trend to increase in 2011.”

The researchers further predict an increase in ‘Trojan Horse’ attacks as well as Mac botnets - networks of computers which have been compromised by cyber-criminals; with the root cause being that lack of concern about malware and other security threats to Apple’s products, which, as per the past records, have not been particularly targeted by the hackers.

The report specified: “The lack of user understanding regarding exposure on these platforms and the lack of deployed security solutions make a fertile landscape for cyber-criminals.”