Software Piracy, Tracking the Crackers

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Software Piracy, Tracking the Crackers
By Brian Prince
2008-11-17

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Vendors are waging a losing security battle against software pirates. With V.i. Labs, eWEEK takes a look at how software pirates promote their wares on the Web.

According to the Business Software Alliance, more than one-third of all software installed on personal computers worldwide is pirated, costing the software industry nearly $48 billion. At one end of that food chain is the consumer. On the other end is the network of crackers, suppliers and distributors involved in the piracy scheme.

Somewhere in the middle are sites such as NFOHump.com, where software pirates post .nfo files advertising their wares.

V.i. Laboratories took eWEEK on a brief tour of the piracy underground, offering insights into how such sites operate. In its research, V.i. Labs has found about 50 pirate Web search engines, including international ones. The number excludes IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channels and secure FTP sites that also allow access to search for pirated software.

Click here for screenshots of eWEEK's peek at software piracy on the Web.

Once software is cracked and a counterfeit version is ready for release, groups will announce it over IRC. The actual software and .nfo files promoting the release are pushed to topsites with exclusive membership, explained Victor DeMarines, vice president of products at V.i. Labs. It is this second group that distributes the software and makes information about it available through .nfo files on sites such as NFOHump.com.

Read the rest of this article on eWEEK.com.

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