Adobe Reader X to come within 30 days

Latest version of free Adobe Reader, with new sandboxing security technology, is expected to be available within 30 days.

Elinor Mills Former Staff Writer

Elinor Mills covers Internet security and privacy. She joined CNET News in 2005 after working as a foreign correspondent for Reuters in Portugal and writing for The Industry Standard, the IDG News Service and the Associated Press.

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Elinor Mills

Oct. 17, 2010 9:01 p.m. PT

Adobe Systems is expected to announce tomorrow the next version of its Acrobat software, dubbed Adobe Acrobat X.

The software will include the free PDF (portable document format) viewing software Adobe Reader X, which is expected to be available for download within 30 days, Adobe said.

The new version of Adobe Reader will feature sandboxing security technology designed to add an additional layer of protection against attacks targeting the popular PDF viewer. Adobe Reader Protected Mode will be enabled by default and included in Adobe Reader browser plug-ins for all the major browsers. The sandbox mechanism will keep PDF processing, such as JavaScript execution, 3D rendering, and image parsing, to a confined area and prevent applications from installing or deleting files, modifying system information, or accessing processes.

Microsoft uses sandboxing techniques in Office 2010 Protected View and Office 2007 and Google uses it in Chrome.

Adobe has more details about Adobe Reader Protected Mode here.