A Cloud application security company has commented on a global survey, by the British Software Alliance (BSA). The BSA report indicates that the number of users logging into business web applications far exceeds the number of licences that organisations have paid for.
In emerging economies, 45 per cent of businesses paying for cloud-based services admitted to sharing log-in details. In developed economies, a third of organisations said that employees share log-in details for business cloud services. The ninth annual BSA global software piracy study, undertaken with analyst firm, IDC, estimates the value of pirated software at $63.4 billion. BSA President and CEO Robert Holleyman said: “It doesn’t necessarily mean 42 percent of business users are pirating cloud services. Some licenses may allow sharing of accounts — and many cloud service providers charge not by ‘seat’ but by the volume of computing resources consumed, making the path users take to access those resources less important.
To view piracy rates by region in 2010 and 2011, visit the BSA website.
“But it’s worth noting that 56 percent of the people who use paid cloud services for business believe it’s wrong for co-workers to share log-in credentials. Depending on the terms of their service agreements, they could be right: Sharing credentials could constitute license abuse.”
“The fact that so many people share their credentials for cloud services despite believing it’s wrong to do highlights the chronic nature of software piracy. Governments need to provide clear protection and allow for vigorous enforcement against misappropriation and infringement of IP in the cloud.”
Recent adopters of computers and information technology are jumping straight to the cloud, said Holleyman. He said: “If you live in a developing economy and use a computer, then, likely as not, you also use cloud computing services at least some of the time for email, word processing, document or photo storage, or other things — although you might not understand those services to be ‘cloud computing. For more details and to download the survey visit www.bsa.org/techpost.
Commenting
Ed Macnair, CEO of SaaSID said: “Despite growing adoption of web-based applications, the Cloud still represents a major blind spot when it comes to governance, auditing, licence use and compliance. In one particular instance an enterprise CIO told us that he had discovered 30 different deployments of SaaS applications, none of which were procured by the IT department, or configured to comply with corporate security policies. On the flip side, other CIOs tell us that internal audits reveal that only eighty per cent of purchased software licences are being used. Now the BSA reports that shared cloud log-ins are putting businesses at risk of penalties for piracy. Only by treating the browser as the end point and auditing web application use can we extend traditional application control to the cloud and regain visibility.”
Background
The BSA launched a campaign to ensure businesses hold the correct licenses for all the software installed on their computers. At the same time, BSA is now making it easier for people to report suspected cases of illegal software use by introducing a new telephone hotline, 0844 241 3460, and doubling its maximum ‘whistle-blower’ reward to up to £20,000.
Julian Swan, Director, Compliance Marketing EMEA, BSA, said: “Software is one of the most valuable assets for any organisation, so it is vital that businesses in Reading realise that they are taking risks if they are not correctly licensed. The abuse of intellectual property rights is a serious offence, and enforcement action will be taken against any company found using unlicensed software. It can result in a damaged reputation and significant costs, not to mention operational downtime as unlicensed software is often less resistant to viruses and other malware.”
Recent research from the BSA, which polled 250 Financial Directors (FDs) in the UK about their attitudes towards software piracy within their organisations, demonstrated a clear requirement to educate businesses on the need for effective Software Asset Management (SAM). The results found that only two per cent of FDs in the South-East are very confident their software is correctly deployed, with over a third of FDs in the region admitting that they cannot confidently say there is no illegal software use in their company.
Swan added: “This campaign is designed to encourage businesses in Reading to review their software licenses and to expose those that may be using software illegally. It is crucial that businesses take the potential risks of software piracy seriously. Although many do the right thing when it comes to software management, others, either through ignorance, neglect or financial corner cutting, persist in using illegal software. This campaign sends a strong message that this will not be tolerated and companies that continue to avoid the legal route will be subject to action and investigation from the BSA.”
Anyone wishing to report a case of illegal software use can call the hotline, or go to www.bsa.org/reading. All reports will be treated confidentially.
What to do?
If businesses are concerned about their software licensing, there are a number of sources that can be contacted for help. Publishers and software suppliers should be the first port of call to answer any questions regarding your licensing. The BSA website also provides guidance that can help ensure that a company is operating efficiently and legally. Further information and software compliance tools are available from www.bsa.org.
More than one in four programmes that UK users installed were unlicensed last year, it is suggested. The commercial value of this piracy was £1.2 billion.
The study also suggests that more than three quarters (77pc) of UK PC users surveyed do not think the risk of getting caught is an effective deterrent to software piracy. Professed software pirates in the UK are also disproportionately young (28 percent are under 34 years old) and male (79 percent).
Across Europe, business decision makers confess to pirating software more frequently than other users — and are more than twice as likely as others to say they buy software for one computer and then install it on additional machines in their offices.
Julian Swan, Director, Compliance Marketing, BSA EMEA, said: “As the UK enters a double-dip recession, it has never been more important to protect the creative industry’s intellectual property (IP) and its vital contribution to the economy. However, to do so we need to fundamentally change the way we view and acquire software. It is not another utility. It powers everything we do to secure business success. Software should be the very thing businesses invest in, not scrimp and steal. Anyone who uses software they haven’t paid for should face hefty consequences.”
Given the persistence of IP right infringement in the UK, the BSA is calling for a stronger damages law, including double damages, to clamp down on illegal software use. This would provide a greater deterrent than the existing law, under which damages equivalent to the cost of the software license are permissible.
“Software piracy persists as a drain on the global economy, IT innovation and job creation,” said BSA president and CEO Robert Holleyman. “Governments must take steps to modernise their IP laws and expand enforcement efforts to ensure that those who pirate software face real consequences.”
Globally, the study finds that piracy rates in emerging markets tower over those in mature markets — 68 percent to 24 percent, on average — and emerging markets account for an overwhelming majority of the global increase in the commercial value of software theft. This helps explain the market dynamics behind the global software piracy rate, which hovered at 42 percent in 2011 while a steadily expanding marketplace in the developing world drove the commercial value of software theft to a new record of £39.6 billion from £36.6 billion in 2010. More than half of the world’s personal computer users — 57 percent — admit they pirate software. That includes 31 percent who say they do it “all of the time,” “most of the time,” or “occasionally”. By its sheer scale, China has the most troubling piracy problem. Its illegal software market was worth nearly £5.5 billion in 2011 versus a legal market of less than £1.7 billion.
