A Quarter Of MSMEs Consider Using Pirated Software To Cut Costs

The pirated software is widely used (photo: Kaspersky)

JAKARTA - Kaspersky's latest report reveals that 24 percent (Indonesian 17 percent) of companies with 50 to 999 employees are ready to use pirated business software alternatives to reduce IT spending.

In addition, among the types of small-scale businesses (less than 50 employees), only 8 percent (Indonesian 4 percent) are ready to take this step. This action can seriously affect the company's cybersecurity, as the adversary is actively distributing malicious files under the guise of the most widely used software.

According to Kaspersky Security Network (KSN), in just eight months, 9,685 users have been exposed to malware and malicious software masquerading as the most popular software products for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

In general, 4,525 unique malicious or unwanted files were distributed through unofficially distributed (including pirated) MSME-related software.

What kind of software would you replace with pirated alternatives?

“Lack of resources is a common situation faced by the MSME sector, but the use of pirated or hacked software should be completely excluded if an organization values ​​its security, reputation, and revenue,” said Alexander Shlychkov, Product Marketing Lead at Kaspersky in a statement received a few days ago.

This Kaspersky study aims to explore which crisis management tactics business leaders find most successful, and how the steps taken can seriously impact a company's cyber resilience.

Safe measures such as finding affordable contractors (41 percent) and adopting free alternatives to regular software (32 percent) were the most popular choices among respondents to cut costs.

The types of programs that respondents said could be replaced with pirated copies, the majority chose software for project management, marketing, and sales. As many as 41 percent even agreed to use pirated cybersecurity software.

“Pirated software copies usually come with Trojan and miners and do not contain fixes, updates or patches released by official developers to cover vulnerabilities that cybercriminals might exploit. The free but official alternative is a much better option for those who need to save money on IT needs.”