Is Chrome a security risk?

My lovely bride of 30 years worked from home yesterday, hoping to save our city some gas.
An e-mail came in from her administrator around mid-day which she decided to share with me.
It told all users to shut down Chrome.
The e-mail called Chrome a security risk. It told all users within the company to use Firefox or Internet Explorer, to shut Chrome down.
I don’t know how serious those concerns are. Without identifying my wife’s employer I will say it’s a conservative company, very security conscious, and often proactive.
But this is a good time to ask how well Chrome is doing. Google Analytics says 1 in 40 visits to ZDNet Open Source are now done with Chrome. It’s currently on build 2200, Version 0.2.149.30. (Click the wrench, then the About tab.)
Personally I have noticed that Chrome often crashes Shockwave and Flash pages. Thanks to its redundant tab-based design, whole browser sessions don’t die, but these plug-in crashes are more common than with Firefox.
I have also found that, despite its promise, it pays to shut Chrome down every once in a while and re-start it. The lack of add-ons can be annoying, as when I’m asked for personal information or want to search a page for a word or phrase.
Other reviewers have not been so kind. Some bloggers are already calling it a failure, and the criticism is global in scope.
On the other hand, this open source browser is already being forked, as with a German version dubbed Iron.
This, to me, is good news. It may be the most important news.
It is wrong to evaluate Chrome as you would a new TV show. It is wrong to consider it solely in terms of Google because, like Firefox, this is an open source product subject to the open source process.
But what I think or what any other reporter thinks really does not matter. What do you think? Are you using Google Chrome now? Do you plan to? When? And if not, why not?

(I refers to Dana Blankenhorn)

Code execution vulnerability found in Firefox 3.0

It’s not all about world records for Firefox 3.0.

Just hours after the official release of the latest refresh of Mozilla’s flagship browser, an unnamed researcher has sold a critical code execution vulnerability that puts millions of Firefox3.0 users at risk of PC takeover attacks.

According to a note from TippingPoint’s Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) , a company that buys exclusive rights to software vulnerability data, the Firefox 3.0 bug also affects earlier versions of Firefox 2.0x.

Technical details are being kept under wraps until Mozilla’s security team ships a patch.

According to ZDI’s alert, it should be considered a high-severity risk:

Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code, permitting the attacker to completely take over the vulnerable process, potentially allowing the machine running the process to be completely controlled by the attacker. TippingPoint researchers continue to see these types of “user-interaction required ” browser-based vulnerabilities - such as clicking on a link in email or inadvertently visiting a malicious web page.

It looks very much like the vulnerability researcher was hoarding this vulnerability and saving it for Firefox 3.0 final release to make the sale.

In the absence of a fix, Firefox users should practice safe browsing habits and avoid clicking on strange links that arrive via e-mail or IM messages.

There are no reports of this issue being exploited but, if you are worried about being at risk of drive-by attacks, consider using a different browser.