Pirated software causes viruses

 Microsoft revealed an interesting South East Asia computer security study in Manila this week. They studied 216 laptops bought in December 2012 in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. For those with pre-installed pirated Windows software on the laptops, (pirated software is routinely offered as a freebie to laptop buyers by computer vendors in South East Asia), 68 per cent was found to contain viruses and malicious software (malware).

Microsoft pointed out that buying a name brand computer loaded with viruses was not  value for money. 5,601 types of malware were found which 3,703 were considered hostile and 1,898 items removed security features like firewalls.  They found trojans, worms, viruses, crack programs, hacker tools, rogue programs and password stealers.
The Business Software Alliance, reports that Vietnam has an 88 per cent piracy rate, Indonesia is 86 per cent, Thailand 72 per cent and Philippine 70 per cent, according to the study.
IP Komodo prefers worms and viruses in his lunch, but appreciates this clever educational approach to piracy.