Adobe Reader 'is the new IE'

A security expert has questioned the popularity of Adobe Reader after Adobe said a security flaw in the software would not be fixed until 11 March.

Mikko Hypponen, of Finnish security firm F-Secure, said that Adobe Reader had become the new Internet Explorer in a withering attack.

Some older versions of Internet Explorer, such as IE6, were notoriously insecure and buggy.

"I find it a bit confusing how commonplace Adobe Reader has become. For some reason everybody seems to be using it for reading PDF files. Even though there are plenty of free alternatives. And the alternatives are much smaller and faster. And start up in under a minute," Hypponen said.

"From my point of view, Adobe Reader has become the new IE. For security reasons, avoid it if you can," he continued.

The flaw in Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat was found last week though Adobe said it would take some three weeks to ready a patch for the vulnerability.

In the meantime, users should disable Javascript in the software, Adobe said.