ILLEGAL DOWNLOADS ARE KILLING YOUR BUSINESS!!!!!!

Now thats a headline that might catch your eye. What does it really mean, how does it effect you in your business?

Well this has been brought on by a couple of laptops I have had in for repair recently; all infected with numerous viruses and malware, causing peformance issues and generally making life a pain on the IT front.

As a business you need the latest and greatest software right? Well not strictly true but of course all software writers want you to think so. With some applications retailing at over £500 for writing letters or spreadsheets, it does make you think - is it worth it.

So someone tells you "I have a copy of that latest software, we can install it on all our machines, as it will not be checked" or "I know where we can download a copy of the latest and greatest letter writing software and save £££££££s"

Of course everyone likes to save money, but is it really going to save you money?

So you have downloaded a torrent client and there are loads. This allows you to search for all sorts of stuff online; latest films, software, documents, music -  the list goes on. And then you find the latest office writing package 2011 super duper version.

You download it. It all works fine, even though it says registered to xxx Ltd, you turn a blind eye as it has enabled you to send and read documents in the new format.

All of a sudden your internet connection starts to slow down. Your machines keep freezing at random times, or the hard drive is flashing away even when you are not using the machine. Whats going on? Business is being effected.

You need to understand what a torrent is. Do you know where you actually downloaded the software from? Of course not.

A torrent is peer 2 peer (p2p) which means it allows you to download items from other people; this is usually stored in a special folder on their PC or server. Once you have downloaded your version of the download, it is shown on the torrent software as available. This means people are downloading from your network/server/PCs without your knowledge. By downloading and installing the client, you're effectively giving your consent.

Scary stuff. I doubt that your employees will be satisfied with just the one download. It is endless - they spot on the torrent, the latest album from yyy and want it, or see a document which might be interesting, or a video clip of someone famous naked etc - you get the picture.

They start to download more, some of these files can and will contain viruses/ malware/spyware. These as you know not only can destroy your data but send all keystrokes to others, including bank details.

Worse case scenario is - your bank account can be emptied, or your employees accounts can be emptied. Not good.

Best case is nothing happens and you carry on but you have been very lucky.

What is most likely to happen is that you will have downtime on your systems, due to viruses spreading around your network. Everything has to be switched off or disconnected from your network;  to fix, this can be a lenghty and costly process as most businesses rely on IT to function.

So can you afford to allow illegal downloads or software on your network?

YOU DECIDE!!!!! Is it really worth it?

Is it better to call an expert who knows the cheapest way to deploy legal software around your business, who can offer advice on whether you need letter writer 2010 to function? Or download illegal, basically stolen software?

Many businesses are still running successfully on older versions of software.

Do you really need the latest and greatest versions to function?

Give me a call on Grantham 01476 01476 573599