Cybersecurity, “more virus with pirated software” – The Republic

USE unlicensed software, as well as being an illegal practice, it can be a fatal choice for our personal computers. The risk of viruses, worms, Trojan horses and other types of malware increases exponentially with the use of unlicensed software. This correlation has been demonstrated thoroughly by a survey conducted by IDC (International Data Corporation) for the Business Software Alliance (BSA), the international association that is responsible for years of anti-piracy, mainly in the field of copyright infringement on software by the companies.

It really is not the first time that analysts speak of this connection. When the worm “Conficker” spread in computers around the world between 2008 and 2009 online security experts had already warned about the dangers arising from the download of unlicensed software. A few years later it was discovered by the network of computers infected with malware “Citadel” (who created 5 million “zombie” computers in 90 countries) that the criminals behind this illegal network had managed to infect PCs in part by selling free versions Windows license pre-infected Citadel. Even the FBI has launched in recent years the alarm about the presence of virus in the software without a license.

The innovation resulting from this analysis is that, according to people who made them, is the first study that reveals a statistical correlation between unlicensed software and the threat to the security of the computer represented by malware. The research, entitled “Software unlicensed and threats to cybersecurity,” seems to leave no doubt that there is a strong relationship between the use of unlicensed software and the infection of malware and viruses. Analysts have come to these conclusions through a statistical analysis of data from 81 countries: the data on unlicensed software were taken from Global Software Survey, a study two years that leads IDC for BSA, while information on cybersecurity are from Microsoft’s Security Intelligence Report, information based on the activity of 600 million users per month. In 2013 about 20% of personal computers worldwide met malware every three months.

But to make clear the correlation is a graph that relates the percentage of computers with unlicensed software and the percentage of computers infected with malware in 2013: it is clear that the growth of computer software without license increases the percentage of PCs affected by malware (and vice versa). And this report does not change by changing the country: the United States, for example, the rate of unlicensed software in 2013 was 18% and the rate of malware (the “encounter rate”) was 13% in the quarter. In Indonesia at a rate of unlicensed software by 84% corresponded an “encounter rate” of 44% per quarter. In Brazil to a level of unlicensed software by 50% corresponded an “encounter rate” of 31%. Statistics confirm that the two variables have a close relationship, going up and down together. The correlation coefficient is 0.79%, where 1.0 represents a perfect correlation and 0 no correlation. To make a useful comparison, the correlation between smoking and cancer is the 0.72,7% and the correlation between anti-corruption policies and economic growth of 0.77%.

Analysts were not satisfied to demonstrate a simple connection statistics but have taken steps to develop a model that shows carefully as the possession of unlicensed programs can be a valuable indicator of future malware infection. The mechanism is that the regression analysis involves the use of data to derive a formula by which a variable can predict another. Data graphically create a straight line if the formula works perfectly the data will all along this line, alterimenti not. In this case, many of the data are in the vicinity of the line with a statistically strong predictive value of 0.62. This shows that the differences between malware infections recorded in various countries comes to 62% of the differences between the different rates of use of unlicensed software.

To confirm this theory, there is also a study of 2014 conducted by IDC and the National University of Singapore (NUS) which revealed significant quantities of virus in unlicensed software in over 800 PCs with unlicensed software pre-installed. The test involved a dozen countries in Asia, Europe and America. The test showed that with an unlicensed software is a three chance of contracting malware. A survey of 1,000 owners of pc has revealed that one in five of those surveyed said that an unlicensed software has infected their PC with a virus; 2 of 5 said the software have slowed down their computers and have had to uninstall it (a possible sign of hidden viruses) and one in 10 said they had destroyed those programs.

Of course there ‘ is a total certainty, it is only statistical evidence on which, however, must reflect. It ‘obvious that not all security threats come from malware and not all malware are by unlicensed software. But it is clear that many malware derive from unlicensed software and are a threat to computer security. “For this – says the study – it is necessary for companies, governments and consumers strive to lower the rate of risk by reducing the use of unlicensed software.”

Unfortunately – says Simonetta Moreschini , president of BSA Italy – on these issues seems to be a trend in the last period in Italy to go against. For if through the approval of Law no. 67 of 28 April 2014, had made a significant step forward even from a legislative point of view, today the same measure is likely to be weakened to an action that is putting at risk the real applicability. The legislative decree containing provisions on ‘non-punishment for a tenuous nature of the fact’, currently before the Finance Committees of the House and Senate, is likely to hit the system of enforcement of intellectual property rights and industrial, with negative consequences for our country, both from the economic point of view, both in employment but also to the implications in terms of security. “

Arguments:

BSA

idc

software

malware

virus

unlicensed software

Piracy

microsoft

Citadel

worms

National University of Singapore

cyber security

Starring:

Simonetta Moreschini