IDC: 33 percent of all software is pirated

Posted on Tuesday, March 26 2013 @ 12:41 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
Microsoft logo
A new IDC study commissioned by Microsoft claims 33 percent of all software is counterfeit. The study also found that 48 percent of consumers feared loss of data most when installing "infectious pirated software", wile 29 percent feared identity theft most and 2 percent were not worried. Another interesting finding is that 46 percent of consumers responded they did not install software updates, while 10 percent of CIOs and IT managers admitted they disabled automatic program updates. Further details can be found at Neowin.
A study performed by IDC and commissioned by Microsoft has claimed that 33% of all software is counterfeit, revealing a number of other interesting statistics on the way to its conclusion. IDC surveyed 1,104 consumers, 973 business users and 268 CIO/IT managers across 10 countries to highlight how prevalent piracy and software counterfeiting is in the market today.

According to the study, the "direct costs to enterprises" related to dealing with counterfeit software and malware "will hit $114 billion this year", while "consumers worldwide will waste 1.5 billion hours this year" dealing with these problems. A large portion of pirated software apparently comes pre-installed on bought computers, with 78% of all pirated software coming with spyware. Also, 45% of the respondents claimed that pirated software caused their PC to slow down enough to warrant an uninstall.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



Loading Comments