Security Threats Rank as Top Reason Not to Use Unlicensed Software

Computer users around the world cite the risk of security threats from malware as the top reason not to use unlicensed software.

Users' specific concerns include intrusions by hackers and loss of data. Yet a striking 43 percent of the software installed on personal computers globally in 2013 was not properly licensed — a finding that underscores the need for enterprises to adopt effective software management practices.

Key Findings:

• Rate: The global rate at which PC software was installed without proper licensing rose from 42 percent in 2011 to 43 percent in 2013 as emerging economies where unlicensed software use is most prevalent continued to account for a growing majority of all PCs in service.
• Value: The commercial value of unlicensed PC software installations totaled $62.7 billion globally in 2013.
• Security Risks: The chief reason computer users around the world cite for not using unlicensed software is avoiding security threats from malware. Among the risks associated with unlicensed software, 64 percent of users cited unauthorized access by hackers as a top concern and 59 percent cited loss of data.
• Software Policy Awareness: There is an awareness gap between workers and IT managers when it comes to software policies in enterprises: workers are less likely to say there is a formal policy in place than IT managers.

Source: The BSA Global Software Survey

1. What is Software Licensing Audit?
2. The Stages of Software Licenses Audit
3. What is the point of auditing?
4. Benefits for Business
5. Benefits for IT
6. Remote Software Audit
7. The consequences of having illegal software
8. Why does my company need audit?

Software Licensing Audit is an element of IT resource management that analyzes the condition of a company’s software, organizing and replenishing the lacking licenses and implementing procedures to enhance software management process. It is addressed to a wide range of companies and institutions.

The Stages of Software Licenses Audit

A standard software licenses audit consists of three main stages:

• Software inventory
• Introducing a rescue plan
• Creating certain procedures and codes of behaviour concerning programs and applications.

Software inventory – it serves for gaining a detailed set of information concerning possessed IT resources in a company. Firstly, it is necessary to determine what kind of equipment is used within a company – this includes the number of workstations, servers and OS’s. In the meantime a type of installed software also should be verified. As a result, a detailed report covering the difference between the number of licenses and the data gathered after the audit is generated.

Rescue plan – after generating a comparison report that compares a factual status of possessed software with the number of possessed licenses, the next step is to get rid of each piece of illegal software that happened to appear on the company’s devices. This process also includes unnecessary and unused applications. If a company possesses more licenses than installed programs, they might be installed accordingly.

Creating procedures and codes of behaviour – the last stage describes how to behave with software resources within the whole infrastructure. By implementing those procedures you minimize the risk of installing illegal software – thus, diminish the legality issues and - resulting from them – financial consequences.

Software Licensing Audit System

Statlook system is a program serving the purpose of checking the legality of software. Apart from that, it also is a complex system to manage IT resources and control workers’ performance.

Main functions of statlook system:

• Remote resource scanning in order to detect installed applications
• Remote resource scanning to detect files – no matter how they are defined
• Manual computer scanning (Agent on an external memory drive)
• Updated software patterns (free pattern databases updates)
• Creating own software patterns
• Assigning the licenses with software patterns in License Manager
• Assigning licenses to computers
• Detecting programs’ suites (e.g. Office) and OS’s
• Detailed data concerning the condition of software and its compatibility with possessed licenses (Audit)

What is the point of auditing?

The issue of software legality becomes more and more important. The law enforcement is increasingly responsive to denunciation concerning possessing illegal programs. As it seems, the decision of implementing current audit is inevitable. It is a burning issue – especially while taking into consideration that your end-users are apt to download and install applications and programs from unknown sources.

Basic aims of performing an audit within the organization are as follow:

Listing programs – in a way that a person responsible for possessed software was sure that each installed piece of software has a license

Checking out if there is a factual need for programs to purchase

Optimal usage of programs by the Users.

Benefits for IT

• Ensuring the legality of possessed software
• Multimedia files, fonts and other files inventory
• Better task management
• Enhanced IT infrastructure security

Benefits for Business

• Legality of business
• Securing employees from breaking the law
• Data security enhancement

Remote Software Audit

Software licensing audit in statlook enables the administrators to easily identify unlicensed programs and multimedia files, and – as consequence – minimize the piracy within the company. Ensuring the legality of possessed software guarantees that your company is secure and will not experience harsh consequences of legal misconduct.

With remote software audit the administrator can perform the whole operation from one place, what vastly decreases the amount of time spent on this activity. Nowadays this is a must in case of such systems – especially concerning companies that use more than several dozens of workstations on a daily basis. With Agents installed on each company’s computer which serve as means of connection between workstations and statlook’s administration console, the audit can be performed without a need to visit each place in person.

It is especially important for system’s functionality which main aim is to save time of IT administrators. The audit might be performed from one place and its results might be displayed later on as detailed, yet transparent reports; tackling the issue individually, by groups or for the whole network. Each audit should be performed in a way that does not disturb others work and prevents the network from congestion.

The consequences of having illegal software

• Increased risk of virus infection – without a properly prepared code of conduct every worker may download illegal software
• Lack of technical support – unlicensed software lacks technical support from its producer’s part.
• Lack of compatibility – Different versions of software will cause a downgrade of overall work performance, waste of time and workers’ frustration
• Conflict with law – people responsible for the company’s management might be held liable for legal misconduct within the facility.

Why does my company need audit?

What are the benefits of performing an audit within a company? First – and foremost – it directs a right course of managing company’s software and prevents us from breaking the law concerning copyrights. To manage our software effectively, we need to gather all the necessary information concerning the licenses – which programs are installed within the network? Is every program licensed? Is every license used? Is every version up-to-date?

• Ensuring the legality of your software
• Securing from the consequences of breaking the law by the end-users
• Listed multimedia, fonts and other files
• Better time expenditure
• IT infrastructure security enhancement
• Security from data breaches