In a deal that few saw coming, chipmaker Intel has announced plans to tie the knot with McAfee, bringing the security software vendor into the fold for $7.68 billion.

The mantra repeated today by Intel and McAfee officials alike is "energy-efficient performance, Internet connectivity and security," which will now make up the three prongs of Intel's business. As a result of the deal, software from McAfee, which will operate as a division of Intel's software and services group, will be integrated into an array of the company's chips.

Adobe certainly isn't regretting the success of its products, but along with the ubiquity of Acrobat Reader and Flash has come a drawback: hackers have painted a big target on the company's back.

On Tuesday, security vendor McAfee issued its 2010 predictions. Among them? Adobe offerings will become the most commonly targeted applications on PCs, surpassing Microsoft's Office suite. "Flash and Reader are among the most widely deployed applications in the world, which provides a higher return on investment to cybercriminals," notes the report.