One thing about hackers: They are innovative. According to security companies, the newest malware twist is an exploit that can compromise a PC when the user opens a malicious PDF file.

The infected PDF file triggers a buffer overflow condition that gives the attackers control of the computer. According to Adobe's advisory, the flaw could be exploited on systems running Microsoft's Windows XP and affects version 9 of Adobe Reader and Acrobat, as well as earlier versions.

A patch is coming by March 11. But until then, be very careful with the PDF files...or switch to a Mac.