THE Guyana National Computer Incident Response Team is advising the general public that there are security risks inherent in the use of “pirated” or “cracked” software, according to a release from the Ministry of Public Security.Recently, the issue of pirated, cracked, and unlicensed software being used in government ministries and agencies was highlighted at the public hearings of the Public Service Commission of Inquiry.
The ministry has stated that software can be classified as either proprietary or open source.
“Proprietary software is protected under copyright law. Typically, to use proprietary software such as Microsoft Windows, licence keys need to be acquired from the vendor to properly activate the software. These licence keys are acquired by purchasing a licence to use the software. Some individuals can determine this licence key by a process called reverse engineering and offer a version of the software free for download online,” the release stated.
“This is referred to as “cracking” or “pirating” of software. It is illegal in many countries to use and distribute pirated software. Distributors of “pirated” or “cracked” software modify the original software produced by vendors such as Microsoft.”
Malware
In modifying the software, the ministry noted that malware can be introduced and backdoors which expose corporate and personal data.
Typically, the average Guyanese personal computer user purchases a desktop, laptop or tablet and the cost for the operating system and software installed on the device is usually included in the total cost for the system. Problems typically arise when the computer develops a hardware or software problem or if the hard disc fails. Under these circumstances an operating system reload becomes necessary and some computer technicians will download a ‘cracked’ version of Microsoft Windows and other Productivity and Utility Software to get the system back up and running.
It is theft
The ministry further noted that the problem with using cracked operating systems/software is first and foremost an ethical issue, because it is theft and violation of intellectual property and copyrighted material. And secondly, the operating system/software that is being downloaded is not authentic and, as mentioned earlier, can and often does contain malware which infects a user’s system and can open a host of backdoors for stealing of information.
“Many Guyanese computer home users are using Microsoft Windows in an unlicensed manner and the risk to doing this is that one is not able to benefit from the product and security updates. Microsoft is currently offering a free Windows 10 Upgrade and eligible users should consider upgrading their systems.”
The release said further that some home users and some small businesses are still using Microsoft XP and since this is a discontinued (no support, no new updates or patches) version of Microsoft Windows, XP users are at risk of being upgraded to a cracked, new version of Microsoft Windows together with a cracked version of Microsoft Office if special attention is not paid to copyright issues during the reloading and upgrading of their computer systems.