Counteracting Software Piracy: Protection Plan Is The Man

By Author: eccuni
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It's important knowing the problem and it's extent which you are facing when the piracy of a system is found. This will help determining how you can deal with the problem. Independent Software Vendors or the ISV found out that the software they created has been copied or pirated, they would find a way to stop the piracy of the product. Considering this is their hard work, they must fight for their product. They would go to the distribution channel and would immediately give takedown notices. However, this way of handling the situation will be difficult.

An example for this kind of situation was reported on a known newspaper. The known newspaper posted an article concerning about Microsoft who are taking down at least 800,000 counterfeit links per month in order to subdue the countless counterfeit software. Microsoft spends at least $200 million on technology that counter act piracy in order to prevent counterfeits. They also have hundreds of professionals who have undergone incident handling training and have tons of ...
... experience in incident handling. The technology searches the internet for any doubtful links. It sends requests in order to takedown the website when it finds any suspicious links. Software pirates use systems that are automated which can restore links that were brought down by Microsoft. It is an endless battle of the pirates and companies. However, this kind of plan isn't working at all.

ISVs are looking for any cure of this simply annoying problem. However, they use the approach of software protection. ISVs strengthen their software by using the methods like code encryption in order to discourage the software pirates. This method can help in other cases. However, through this method, this can only delay the software pirates from cracking the software. Hackers are almost impossible to stop. Hackers always have a strategy in finding the solution.

There are many ways to approach or deal with piracy. The best way is to react and find a way for the situation but never overreact. Be practical on handling it and also be patient. This can help you think more clearly and be logical. Being patient doesn't doing nothing about it. Patience means on doing the right thing, supporting the correct information. ISVs, however, can overcome this challenge by devote on intelligence, that specialized in piracy business, in order to spot the license infringements and acquire the time and sacrifice to acquire all the information before ISVs make decisions on how and what they will do about it.

ISVs now have the technology to recognize where and how the software is used, the range of the software being misused and what are the features being used the most. Gathering this data concerning the actually businesses who are using the pirated software can help the ISVs make a decision about how to counteract the piracy because of the data given to them.

Another example can shed a light on the point. The maker of an anti-virus software, the Avast Software, changed the piracy problem to a big opportunity for them in the market.

An example to show the clear point: Avast Software, which is the one who produced the Avast Anti-virus, switched a problem in piracy into an opportunity in huge marketing. Some companies, when knowing that the software they had been working on was stolen, they at once find a way to stop the piracy and punish the users who used the version, which is pirated, of their software. However, Avast used the situation for their advantage. They gathered information for 18 months concerning about the version, which is pirated, of the software.

The PC Pro said that a one license for the program Avast Anti-virus, is being used by at least 750,000 people due to the use of file-sharing sites. Avast clearly saw this as a way in order to gain profit. Avast realized that the people who are using the software are satisfied on its features, they switched the users who are using the version, which is pirated, into users of the authorized version. A window that popped-up was given to the people who are using the pirated software giving them an offer to a paid-for or free version of Avast Anti-virus. The users realized this was a good deal and instead used the opportunity and used the valid versions of the said software.

Like Avast, other companies use the more peaceful strategy on solving the piracy software issue. It is difficult to choose the perfect decision in software piracy when there are no significant facts given to you. They understand the range and limitation of the said problem and the solution on solving it.

The ISVs should really do some action with the data from the piracies they have acquired. They could collect data and do programs that can help recover the revenue that was lost due to piracy. They can also work with other associates in other places in the world to stop the piracy on becoming a problem. The ISVs can get data by acquiring help from piracy intelligence, that specialized in piracy business, who have experience in incident response, in order to understand their piracy problem they are facing. Analyzing the data received can really help them since they can clearly understand the problem they are facing with piracy. The data can serve as proof on what applications of the software are used without verification.

Most of the time, the results on the data recovered can be a little surprising. Half of the results are already customers who have existing account who are overusing the software license. The other half is a good opportunity as they are a opportunity to do business. Organizations, which you don’t know and you just recently known, from the data that are also using the software and using it on their operations in business.

The ISVs who are using the intelligence ,that specialized in piracy business, strategy can really have the idea on where there are many offenders who are using unlicensed software. They can use the data in order to make a counter attack so they can at least recover the revenue they have lost in the process. Another point is that the organizations decided to use your software instead for your competitors since they have the reason in doing it and will probably have intentions on using it more. In some situations, the advantages are also great and switching the organizations using pirated software into paying customers. By doing this, the organization can be more software amenable and have now the access on having company services like upgrades and technical support.

In the past, the vendors of the software can't get any scope and information about their own problem with piracy. Only a few of ISVs have the resource to do the tasks by themselves and they also are short of tools to do it good. However, solutions from intelligence, that specialized in piracy business, can make the ISVs do it alone. They can able to find out the number of their piracy pipeline to determine how large the piracy problem they are handling. They can decide a way in order to stop the problem from the data collected. The ISVs who are experienced now are demonstrating they are leaders when it comes to switching organizations who are using version, which is pirated, in to paying customers, fighting the software piracy and also getting back the revenue they have lost.

The International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council) is a member- based organization that certifies individuals in cyber security and e-commerce. It is the owner and developer of 20 security certifications. EC-Council has trained over 90,000 security professionals and certified more than 40,000 members. These certifications are recognized worldwide and have received endorsements from various government agencies. They also offer trainings in incident handling.

More information about EC-Council is available at http://www.eccouncil.org.