Global consumers, on the other hand, are expected to spend $25bn and waste 1.2bn hours this year because of security threats and costly computer fixes stemming from malware on pirated software, according to the study conducted by the International Data Corporation and the National University of Singapore.

“Cyber criminals are profiting from any security lapse they can find, with financially devastating results for everyone,” said Naim Yazbeck, general manager, Microsoft Qatar.

The study was released yesterday as part of Microsoft’s “Play It Safe” campaign, a global initiative to create greater awareness of the connection
between malware and piracy.

Officials from Qatar attended a global cyber crime enforcement summit hosted recently by the Microsoft Cybercrime
Centre.

The study, titled “The Link Between Pirated Software and Cybersecurity Breaches,” also revealed that 60% of consumers surveyed say their greatest fear from infected software is the loss of data, files or personal information, followed by unauthorised Internet transactions (51%) and hijacking of email, social networking and bank
accounts (50%).

However, 43% of those same respondents do not install security updates, leaving their computers open to attack by cybercriminals.

Government officials expressed concern about the potential impact of cybersecurity threats to their nations. According to the survey, governments are most worried about the loss of business trade secrets or competitive information (59%), unauthorised access to confidential government information (55%), and the impact of cyber attacks on critical infrastructure (55%).

It is estimated that governments could lose more than $50bn to deal with the costs associated with malware on
pirated software.

The survey pointed out that nearly two-thirds of enterprise losses ($315bn) will be at the hands of organised criminals. Nearly 20% of the pirated software in enterprises is installed by employees.

Some 28% of enterprise respondents reported security breaches causing network, computer or website outages occurring every few months or more; 65% of those outages involved malware on end-user computers.

The global study surveyed 1,700 consumers, IT workers, chief information officers, and government officials in Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Singapore, Ukraine, the UK, and the US, and analysed 203 computers acquired in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and the US.