January 14, 2010, 2:58 PM — Some things are the same no matter what operating system you run. Mac, Windows, or Linux user chances are you use Adobe Reader to read PDF (Portable Document Files) and Adobe Acrobat to create them. So it is that, no matter what you're running on your PC, you need to update your copies of Reader and Acrobat.
After some delays, Adobe has finally updated these programs and to run safely you need to update as soon as possible. Windows, Mac and Linux users can all find the Reader updates at this site. Windows Acrobat users need to go to this page for their updates, while Mac users need to head to this site.
Why am I making such a fuss about this update? After all software gets patched every day. I'm raising a little Cain about it because major attacks on Google and Adobe are already happening because of these now fixed security holes.
These attacks aren't coming from J. Random Hacker, they're coming, according to Google, from the Chinese government.If you don't want your computer to be part of state-sponsored espionage, you need to fix it now before you run across a malware-infected PDF.
Technically, Adobe has fixed eight vulnerabilities in the two programs. Six of these are rated critical fixes. This means that they could be used to "allow arbitrary code execution" or "could lead to code execution." In other words, these bugs can be used to take over your computer.
Windows, of course, is the most vulnerable to such attacks, but I wouldn't delay updating my Linux and Mac systems either. Whether China is behind the attacks or not, we know for certain that these vulnerabilities are being attacked even as you read this.
But, enough of this. You've got the idea. This is serious. Go out there and download the updates and install them now. You, and all the other good citizens on the Internet, will be glad you did.
