There’s a lot of scary stuff out there — identity theft, viruses, spamming — and it’s getting scarier with each new technology.

Not only that, but as technology spreads around the world, new threats emerge all the time. That’s where McAfee comes into play, says Chief Executive Dave DeWalt.

“The more the world has flattened, the more emerging markets have come on… the more opportunity we see here at McAfee,” he told us. “Traditional markets of antivirus are interesting and growing but many new things are out there.”

Okay, so what are we talking about here?

Cell phones, for one thing. DeWalt notes that in Japan security applications are catching on big-time when it comes to cell phones. The reason is that cell phones are used for so much in Japan — buying stuff in vending machines, for instance — so the information stored on them needs to be locked down.

He points out that “the smarter the phone gets and the more pervasive commerce becomes on the phone” the more security applications for the phone will become a necessity.

So if you’ve got a cell phone, expect McAfee to come calling.

(Photo: Reuters)