Tech: Don’t open that doc: PDFs proving to be a major security problem
- PDF exploits are usually the first ones attempted by attackers. Attackers are choosing PDFs for a reason. It’s not random. They’re establishing a preference for Reader exploits.
- ScanSafe senior security researcher Mary Landesman • Regarding the preference of hackers to use rogue PDFs for exploits first on malicious Web sites, then other exploits if those don’t work. Landesman claims that 80 percent of all exploits in the fourth quarter of 2009 came from PDFs, which is really scary, especially since the format is so heavily-used. “PDF use is huge,” she said. So are zero-day exploits. source