A large percentage of South Africans are using illegal software, a new survey has found.<\/p>\n
According to BSA | The Software Alliance, 33% of South Africans are using unlicensed software on computers.<\/p>\n
That number is marginally down from 2014 and significantly better than the Middle East and Africa, where the rate is 57%.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe this progress is in part a result of the successful cooperation between the South African government and the software industry,\u201d said Billa Coetsee, chair of the South African Committee of BSA.<\/p>\n
The organisation carried out a joint initiative with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission and the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary Rights Organisation on intellectual property and licence compliance.<\/p>\n
Employees<\/strong><\/p>\n But despite the 1% drop, Coetsee said that unlicensed software in SA is big business.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the report highlights, the value of unlicensed software in use in South Africa is $274 million (R4.3 billion), which is very high. We will have to continue building the success of our recent initiatives with government, other stakeholders and the business community,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n In the European Union, the illegal software business is worth $11.1bn with an unlicensed rate of 29%.<\/p>\n The survey also found that 26% of employees are loading unlicensed software on to company computers, nearly double the 15% estimate of chief information officers.<\/p>\n \u201cMany CIOs don\u2019t know the full extent of software deployed on their systems or if that software is legitimate,\u201d said BSA |The Software Alliance president Victoria A Espinel.<\/p>\n Illegal software can contribute directly to cybercrime because it is often produced with deliberate security loopholes to allow malware on computer networks.<\/p>\n Security company Check Point showed that SA jumped from 67th to 22nd position on its ThreatCloud Map in January.<\/p>\n Data from Trend Micro showed that 6 185 local PCs were infected with banking malware in 2015. In the last three months of the year alone, 4 197 were infected with adware, and 6 564 with malware.<\/p>\n BSA said that in 2015 alone cyber attacks cost local businesses over $400bn.<\/p>\n Fin24<\/a><\/p>\n South African arrested for piracy<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nMore on software piracy<\/h3>\n