Illegal Software Use - Essay Example

?Illegal Software Use In the modern research regarding the software piracy s that The Business Software Alliance has some interesting findings. The survey is conducted and the results revealed that around Fifty-seven percent of software users are using pirated software once in a life and around thirty one percent users confess using it always. The 2011 BSA Global Software Piracy Study reveals that the “Business decision-makers who admit they frequently pirate software are more than twice as likely as other computer users to say they buy software for one computer but then install it on additional machines in their offices,”. The latest study reveals that a number of security breaches come by known hackers. On this numerous reports including patches and software updates are presented. Moreover, a questioned is asked for the presence of relationship between unlicensed software and the perseverance of software is maintained or not? In this regard the CEO Robert Holleyman, president BSA says, “It can be a security issue.” Furthermore, he states that there is a major cultural problem that leads towards using pirated software and other security breaches. However, in any organization the security lapse can also happen due to mismanagement of its software and licensing. The unlicensed and not properly documented software are more prone to provided insufficient support to the organization. According to the Holleyman, the BSA report is founded over the IDC market data. The term “gold standard” is stated by the Hollyman that supports the sales of PC and software in worldwide markets (GNC Articles. 2012). This information is collected and published by Ipsos Public Affairs. The survey is held between 14,700 individuals that belong to 33 countries therefore representing around 80 percent of the worldwide software market (GNC Articles. 2012). The survey results came up with some astonishing facts. Around forty two percent of individuals had installed he pirated version of software that cost around $63.4 billion (GNC Articles. 2012). However, this cost cannot be claimed as the net loss due to the unknown budget of legal or illegal installed software as mentioned by BSA in the software industry. In the United States, the rate of pirated software is about nineteen percentages because it is considered as the most law-abiding country percentage-wise. In fact, for the big illegal software shares in the U.S. market the estimated net worth is approximately around $9.8 billion value. In the second place is China (GNC Articles. 2012). It is said that the country pirates an approximated 77 percent of its software. In addition, this software is of worth about $8.9 billion that stands China in the second place of illegal software after United States. The computer users in China pay out on typical just $8.89 for the legal software and in the United States this figure is around $127 for every computer. According to the BSA these cost figures for the software organizations are representing risk to U.S. economic well-being. This is due to the unwarranted aggressive advantage that is given to the industries thus encouraging them to use the pirated software. Likewise, even at the rate of 19 percent software piracy in the United States poses a major threat to the Information and Communication Technology in the United States (GNC Articles. 2012). Firstly, applications or software coming from a non-genuine source can be infected with viruses, malicious codes, Trojan horse, root kits etc. this imposes a direct threat or risks. For instance, if an operation system has been acquired from a non-genuine source, viruses can be installed with the operating system. Likewise, one cannot trust software provided by the vendor and it should be tested before implementing in a live or operational environment of a bank or financial institution. These fixes can be later on patched by security updates. In case of pirated software, update options are turned off due to the fear of Operating system validation tools from the manufacturers. Once the tool detects a non-genuine product, it starts the timer of locking down the operating system within a month. There is no prominent security breach that may have injected within the network from a cracked operating system but again it can exploit from that single point. Microsoft that is one of the leading software giants in the market generated a warning to its customers for buying counterfeit operation systems and application. Likewise, a study that is conducted recently demonstrated that the software available in the black market is already loaded by viruses, rootkits, malicious codes, Trojans and small spywares. Moreover, one more study steered by the Microsoft team of forensic study demonstrated that 63% of pirated software and operation systems were identified and the most number of percentages was calculated from the South Asia region. Likewise, the countries that were involved in the purchase and selling of this pirated software include Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia. Moreover, Microsoft also concluded that the risk of bots, cracking of passwords, hijacks and backdoors along with Trojans was found in about 2000 instances. The study demonstrated that using pirated software poses many risks to the consumers personal or PII (Personal Identifiable Information) data at first. As the director of the region Asia – Pacific along with Japan said that using a genuine product is more secure as compare to an illegal and pirated copy of operation system, as it is one time purchase. The updates for the Windows have been reportedly hinder or rerouted. This is revealed when the 77 percent of the computers are investigated. The updates are routed towards the third party thus increasing the risk of security threats for instance malicious cyber-attacks, virus infections and hacking. According to the Dhakad, “Counterfeiters have started replacing original software in computers with used, malware-infected drives containing non-genuine or unlicensed software”. The cyber hackers are always ready to take advantage from the pirated software. Moreover, they are also ready to get profit from the transaction of new hard drives that can also be sold individually at a premium. In order to generate illegal advantage the cyber hackers can utilize a number of activities for instance theft of bank customers along with credit card number theft, false proposals and e-mail spams. However, these actions are carried out on the order of organized, for-profit illegal enterprises. A research conducted by the Business Software Alliance stated that that Philippines is currently on top 3 of the list demonstrating top most 20 countries containing an uppermost software piracy percentage. Deployment of firewall cannot protect the network, as risks are associated with both internal and external network. In order to protect the network, dimensions are created in terms of physical security, operating system security, database security and network security. Physical security is associated with rules and procedures to be followed by the users. For instance, if an organization has the policy to configure password for a screen saver, every employee must follow, although these are the basics but need to be followed. Moreover, the data servers must have a backup server on some other physical location that is replicated (GNC Articles. 2012). The operating system security must define rules and procedures for employees to update antivirus regularly, security patches, and any other software patch that the network administrator has just shared for probable vulnerabilities. Moreover, employees should scan the system occasionally or during their lunchtime to avoid security breaches. In order to provide database security, organization must complete all the required stages before making it operational. The stages include design, development and propagation of policies and procedures. The three critical parameters that are associated with database include integrity, availability, and data. Furthermore, the discretionary and access control is also essential as it restricts and allows specific users to access the database ("Curriculum development related to information security policies and procedures "). For incorporating strict policies and procedures to ensure network security and information assets, implementation of IDS is recommended as it sense unusual activities on the network. It is defined by (Cannon 2011) as “Network-based intrusion detection system (NIDS) refers to an intrusion detection system (IDS) that monitors activity on a network, instead of a particular host”. The NIDS will listen to all network activities instead of restricting for just one host. Moreover, disabling USB ports from the employee workstations can also secure the network from viruses and Trojans that came along with the flash drives (GNC Articles. 2012). Conclusion We have selected three different articles on software piracy and its use in the market. After a brief introduction on the topic our first article demonstrates the loss of revenue that is huge in numbers to the software industry. The second article demonstrated vulnerabilities associated with the information systems operating on a cracked operation system. The second article also demonstrates all risks, embedded along with preloaded rootkits, spywares, viruses and malicious codes. The third article talks about the associated risks along with preventions and techniques such as patch management, firewall implementation, Intrusion detection systems etc. References CANNON, D.L., 2011. CISA Certified Information Systems Auditor Study Guide. Wiley. GNC Articles. 2012. Surprise: 57 percent admit to using pirated software. [ONLINE] Available at: http://gcn.com/articles/2012/05/15/cybereye-57-percent-use-pirated-software.aspx. [Accessed 10 December 13]. Microsoft Corporation. 2012. BSA Report Finds 61 Percent PC software theft in Egypt totals $172 million in 2011. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.microsoft.com/middleeast/press/Pages/Article.aspx?id=898. [Accessed 10 December 13]. Market Wired. 2006. Lack of a Patch Management Solution Can Cost You Big Bucks. [ONLINE] Available at: http://gcn.com/articles/2012/05/15/cybereye-57-percent-use-pirated-software.aspx. [Accessed 10 December 13]. Read More