Video – How To Avoid Adobe PDF Reader Vulnerability

PDF files usually seem harmless. People don’t think twice about opening a PDF, even if it’s an email attachment,  or reading one online.

Adobe has acknowledged a vulnerability in its Adobe Reader/Acrobat that allows hackers to hijack data from compromised computers. They are investigating the problem but haven’t come up with a patch yet.

You have two options: disable Javascript in Adobe Reader or use an alternate reader. The video below shows you how to do either option…

The alternate readers described in the video are:

Sumatra PDF

MuPDF Firefox Plugin

Further reading:

Adobe confirms PDF zero-day attacks.

How to mitigate Adobe PDF malware attacks

[Author's Note 1/18/2010] Adobe released a fix for Adobe Reader/Acrobat Jan 15th. If your software hasn’t automatically updated then go here for directions on how to update..
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