Tightening down on smart phones and a shift in focus in the fight against cyber threats are among what's ahead next year, according to Perimeter E-Security's new webinar, "Five Data Security Predictions for 2011."

The threat specialist's top five are that employers will impose more security controls on smart phones and tablets; the focus on malware will shift from "a what" to "a who" in the wake of attacks on governments and companies; data-leak prevention products that keep such items as credit card and social security numbers out of communications and devices will "go mainstream"; the U.S. will "crawl" toward more-stringent, European Union-style data protection; and public data security benchmarks will emerge.

"Several high profile and sophisticated security attacks this year, including the attacks on Google and the release by WikiLeaks of US diplomatic cables, should cause companies of every size to reassess their existing security practices in the year ahead," said Andrew Jaquith, chief technology officer at the Milford, Conn., provider of threat-management and secure messaging services to more than 6,000 customers.