+

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

Close
HomeQuizzoneWhatsappShare Flash Reads
 

A third of software downloaded on the world's PCs is unlicensed, and it's costing the industry $46 billion

Jun 8, 2018, 03:31 IST

Today, most of the software people download to their personal computers, whether it's for work (sales tracking, for example) or for home (productivity or personal finance tools), is expensive.

Advertisement

That, combined with the fact that users are able to easily find free versions and bypass payments, makes it no surprise that more than a third of all software installed on PCs globally is unlicensed, or an unauthorized copy of licensed software.

More specifically, 37% - or $46 billion worth - of all software on PCs is unlicensed, according to a study by BSA, the software alliance. As this chart from Statista shows, that number is going down with every passing year, but the dollar amount is still significant.

In addition to depriving software vendors of the tens of billions of dollars that could be circulating through the market, unlicensed software can open companies and individual users up to malware, which in itself is expensive to resolve. The same BSA study said that a malware attack can cost a company an average of $2.4 million and about 50 days to resolve. To add insult to injury, those users are also deprived of software updates and support service.

Jenny Cheng/Business Insider

Advertisement

NOW WATCH: Here's why coating our streets white could help lower temperatures in the summer

You are subscribed to notifications!
Looks like you've blocked notifications!
Next Article