Adobe Reader is the software most often exploited in targeted attacks it seems as Helsinki-based F-Secure urged users to update to the newest version of Reader to protect themselves against new attacks taking advantage of a vulnerability patched just three weeks ago.

F-Secure claimed that 61 per cent of the nearly 900 targeted attacks it's tracked in the first two months of 2010 exploited a vulnerability in Reader. Microsoft's Word was exploited in just 24 per cent of the attacks, Reader used to be targeted 29 per cent in 2008 to almost half the attacks last year.At this rate Adobe's software is on track to account for nearly two out of every three attacks.

Microsoft appears to be getting better. Word, Excel and PowerPoint exploits accounted for approximately half of attacks aimed at specific individuals or organizations. In 2008, exploits of those three Microsoft Office applications made up 71 per cent of all targeted attacks, but Word, Excel and PowerPoint accounted for only 39 per cent of all attacks so far this year, F-Secure said.