Malicious PDF files are increasingly used by hackers as a means of infecting your PC with malware, and they don’t have to look far to find security holes in Adobe Reader. Every few months a new batch of problems are discovered, and just last week Adobe released a patch to cover 29 vulnerabilities with Reader and Acrobat.
Is it finally safe to view PDF files, then? Almost certainly not, as the format is packed with powerful and largely unnecessary features that have the potential for abuse. The only way to improve your Adobe Reader security is to turn them off: here’s what you need to do.