Software Piracy

Here's an area where IS auditors should be paying some attention. During 2009, Canadian companies paid out some $1 Million dollars to the Business Software Alliance (BSA), a consortium of large software makers that investigates suspected software piracy. In 2008, the BSA released a study saying that Canada was a Piracy Haven, although the study has been questioned by other researchers pointing out its flawed methodology.

Either way, the fact is that there is a lot of software piracy going on, and IS auditors can help if they so choose, simply by testing the software licences in place and the process for maintaining them. An interesting article on the Canadian software piracy scene, including a list of the fines recently paid by some Canadian companies, can be found at this link.