PDF Exploits On the Rise

An anonymous reader writes "According to the TrustedSource Blog, malware authors increasingly target PDF files as an infection vector. Keep your browser plugins updated. From the article: 'The Portable Document Format (PDF) is one of the file formats of choice commonly used in today's enterprises, since it's widely deployed across different operating systems. But on a down-side this format has also known vulnerabilites which are exploited in the wild. Secure Computing's Anti-Malware Research Labs spotted a new and yet unknown exploit toolkit which exclusively targets Adobe's PDF format.'"

Comments

SCAM Research Labs?

[StarEmperor]

Wait, we're supposed to trust the findings from SCAM Research Labs?

Personally, I'm waiting to get a job at Secure Computing's Over-The-Counter Hardware Research Lab.

Re:New PDFs in my inbox...

[MyLongNickName]

I have a link to a white paper on how to tell if a PDF is a security threat. I can share it if you like. PDF format of course.

Re:PDF exploit? Or Adobe Reader exploit?

[eclectro]

What if you use a PDF reader that's not made by Adobe?

You download the virus using flash.

non-FOSS feature proposal

[Dystopian Rebel]

Yet another case in which a "fuck off" key would be a useful addition to the Windows keyboard.

Although I usually decry any MS Windows-only feature proposal for not supporting Linux, I feel it is appropriate in this case.

Infected PDF symptoms

[British]

1. Has a tendency to make your browser freeze up
2. Tries to infect some sort of TSR in Windows called Acrord32
3. Will frequently pop up a "checking for updates" dialog
4. Makes the fastest of computers slow to a crawl.
5. a super-jumpy scrolling interface

No wait, those aren't malware symptoms, that's just in Adobe's product. Next week we will discuss the incredible annoyances of the "java runtime environment" daily annoyances & clog-ups in "Add/Remove Programs". Do ANY software vendors know how annoying their software can be at times? Even Apple is guilty of forcing add-on installs you have no choice to get out of.

Re:Firefox should come with a minimal PDF reader

[Minwee]

C:\> del /f C:\Program Files\Adobe is probably the command you were thinking of.

If it wasn't then I heartily endorse it as an alternative.

Re:Good news cause PDF's should be shunned

[Sax Maniac]

MS has always offered free Office document viewers, since the early Jurassic. But, don't tell your students that. Get them used to PDFs while you have some authority!