Adobe Reader's security woes a boon for up-and-coming rival Foxit

07.08.2009
Foxit Reader, a free PDF-reading knockoff of Adobe Systems Inc.'s free Adobe Reader, has won what its maker estimates is 70 million users worldwide because of its

The latest version of Foxit Reader 3.0 for Windows is , compared with Adobe Reader 9.1 for Windows, which tips the scales at 25MB.

And Foxit now has something else going for it: better security.

For the past year and a half, with , including that, if unleashed by an unwitting enterprise employee, could have devastating consequences.

Facing criticism, Adobe is

But it's not fast enough for many companies, says one , who told CNET this week: "As a result of the number of zero-day attacks on PDFs this year, large banks hate Adobe."