The Importance of Playing It Safe

Posted by David Finn
Associate General Counsel, Microsoft Cybercrime Center

On March 6, Microsoft anti-piracy teams around the world turn their attention to raising awareness of the issues surrounding software piracy. What started as a stand-alone day six years ago has evolved into a series of events and activities that bring together piracy experts, cyber-security analysts, IP advocates and law enforcement  to educate consumers and businesses about the dangers of using pirated and counterfeit software.

Addressing software piracy is a critical issue for our shareholders, partners, employees and customers, because while counterfeit software may look like genuine software, it doesn’t work like genuine software.

In support of Microsoft’s Play It Safe campaign, Microsoft asked International Data Corporation (IDC) to investigate the consumer and enterprise experiences with software piracy. The results, compiled in a white paper sponsored by Microsoft,* were pretty eye-opening: IDC found that consumers and businesses who use pirated software will encounter dangerous malware more than one-third of the time. Some of that malware enables cybercriminals to gain remote access to a victim’s computer without the victim knowing about it. The malware can then record a person’s every keystroke – allowing cybercriminals to steal a victim’s personal and financial information – or remotely switch on an infected computer’s microphone and video camera, giving cybercriminals eyes and ears in board rooms and living rooms.

Beyond an in-depth examination of malware found on pirated software, IDC surveyed 2,077 consumers and 258 CIOs/IT across 10 countries, and found that a whopping 64 percent of those surveyed said they knew people who had used counterfeit software and experienced security problems with it.

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