Since the software became popular there have always been attempts to create pirated versions of each of them. However, unlike the economy that many think they are making, using genuine software can save you a lot of headaches.
When it comes to business use, it’s not a good idea to take chances. Any inspection may result in fines for your company. Even worse: submitting your data and your customers’ information to programs of dubious origin can result in even more serious problems.
Therefore, it is important that you have antivirus protection on your machines and always resort to original software. Here are 5 reasons why you should avoid using pirated programs.
1. Your company can be fined
According to Law 9,610/1998, companies that are caught using pirated software by inspection – or by complaints – may be fined up to 10 times the original value of the software. For example, if we are talking about a program that costs R$300, the fine could reach up to R$3,000.
Plus, there’s the immeasurable cost of damaging your company’s image . It’s certainly not a good advertisement for your business for your employees, customers and suppliers to know that the company has been fined for doing this kind of false economy.
2. You will not have technical support in case of problems
When we install software, whatever it may be, without knowing exactly its origin, we have no one to complain to in case of any problem. Sustaining all your company’s work on a program that has no technical support can mean having to stop production overnight for simple errors.
Many developers try to track down pirated software and have released updates to stop it from working. Unbeknownst to the user, when using the product in question online, he may receive warning messages or even see certain features become unavailable.
3. Risk of infecting your network with viruses and malware
When we install pirated software, we cannot be sure about the degree of compromise of the files that are in the package. Many malicious people often include malware in pirated software installation files.
When the user activates the application, he doesn’t realize that, in the background, malicious software tries to capture sensitive data or even use the processing power of his machine for other tasks. Maintaining protection software such as Norton Antivirus is essential.
4. Performance below expectations
In order to be pirated, some software is “pruned”, that is, it loses some resources. Therefore, what the user installs on his machine is a poorly optimized version of the application, with fewer resources and no possibility of updating.
These features cause performance on some machines to be lower than expected. Without understanding the reason, the user sees his computer have crashes, slowness and problems in other software. And worse: not having anyone to turn to to resolve the situation.
5. Risk of exposing your customers’ data
Even worse are the prospects of those who use pirated software to work with user data. These software often have security holes, which can be accessed by intruders looking for data to commit fraud.
Once your database is compromised, the costs in terms of damage to your image or even having security experts to resolve the issue can be astronomical. For this reason, this is a risk that is not worth taking: overnight you can compromise your entire assets, putting even the future existence of the company at risk.
