osx "randomly" wakes up

i have the settings configured to "wake for administrative ethernet access" or something along those lines (only "wake for access" type option)
well, my mac randomly will wake up;
i notice it sometimes in the middle of the night;
does this mean that there is currently malware of some kind already installed?
has my security been compromised?

No.

If you look closely at the message box (at least in 10.6, I can't remember about 10.5), Apple clearly states that the computer will wake up from time to time.

?

thanks for the reply;
i dont remember seeing that message and i have to wonder, why?
why would the computer need to randomly wake up?
does it matter if the airport is on or not?

Do you have a bluetooth device connected to your computer? It's possible that if the connection drops or the device "moves", it will wake up your machine. For instance, I'm looking for a bluetooth mouse right now and someone had left a review of one mouse stating that this was happening to him with the mouse.