According to a recent study, many businesses would consider using pirated software to try and save some pennies. Surprisingly, many businesses would be willing to break the law to save costs. Our advice? Think twice before walking the plank. As of now, project management tools and marketing and sales software are the most popular types of pirated software. But shockingly a huge 56% of business owners said they'd even think about using illegal cybersecurity software to cut down costs.
DON'T DO IT.
Not only is pirated software unsupported – so if you have a problem with it (which you probably will), there’s no help available to rectify the issue – but it can also open your business up to bigger problems. Cybercriminals commonly use pirated software to distribute malware. Some of this is designed to evade firewalls, so once installed, it can spread malicious files beyond your device to your entire network. This leads to your sensitive data being compromised or stolen.
The total costs of getting things back to normal after this kind of cyber-attack can cost a fortune (much more than you would save using pirated software in the first place!) and on top of that, the pirated software can cause damage to your devices, causing them to overheat or slow down. Not Good!
We advise all our clients to always use genuine software from a reputable source. If the cost of the software seems too good to be true… it probably is. But there’s more you can do. You should prevent unauthorized employees from downloading harmful software by properly managing admin rights. And you should ensure your whole team has regular cyber security awareness training to make everyone aware of the risks to your business data.
If you’d like help finding genuine software for your business, or creating a cyber security plan, just get in touch.
Until next time, keep fit and have fun!
(TYYV) The Yada Yada Version:
According to a new survey many businesses would use pirated software to cut costs and yada yada yada this can cause big openings for cyberattacks. So, our advice… don't do it.
