Software piracy continues to be a huge problem, as one bust after another makes news around the world. Just this week, Italian authorities shut down a massive software counterfeit ring, seizing $130 million in ripped-off products from well-known companies including Microsoft, Symantec, and Adobe.
But a new trend in software piracy has officials and at least one of those companies,
Symantec, particularly concerned. Tonight on "Tech Live," find out why ordering software from email deals could cause problems you never imagined.
The spammers' trick is an underhanded one: Get unsuspecting consumers to take the bait on a too-good-to-be-true email deal and buy discs or download software directly from the spammer. Problem is, many times that software never arrives. Downloading the software could install a trojan on your computer, letting hackers have their way with your PC.
Symantec is a leading security software manufacturer, but that hasn't stopped spammers from trying to sell Symantec products that could compromise your PC.
Big bust reveals problem
Symantec says it realized the extent of the problem after the arrest of a Southern California woman, Lisa Chen, who was accused of being a major player in a global software scam. Chen was sentenced in November 2002 to nine years in prison and was ordered to pay $98 million to Symantec and Microsoft.
At the time, the bust was the largest in US history, netting some $41 million in Symantec software alone.
Lately, Symantec has been doing battle against spammers, who offer seemingly amazing deals of 50 percent to 90 percent off the regular price.
Most of the pirated software showing up in spam deals and elsewhere is Symantec's Norton product line, which includes Norton AntiVirus, Norton SystemWorks, Norton Personal Firewall, and pcAnywhere.
According to the company, it has filed more than 600 lawsuits against software pirates since 1998. Along with law enforcement and as a member of the Business Software Alliance, the company's website promises it "has the resources to prosecute suspected software pirates."
Don't buy, don't download
The Los Angeles Police Department's High Tech Crimes Unit has been active in tracking down the sources of such scams. The
LAPD also has a simple message to potential buyers.
"You don't know what you're downloading into your computer," LAPD Detective Sam Moreno says. "You may be downloading some sort of trojan, which is a way for a hacker to come into your computer and take your information."
Symantec has set up a
special website to help customers and to fight back against the pirate spammers.
William Plante, Symantec's head of worldwide security and brand protection, says downloaders may have more to worry about than installing a trojan.
"The very product people are buying to protect their computers," Plante says, "they think they're buying authentic software to do this. In fact, quite often they're at serious risk, their personal information and also their credit card information."
Symantec fights back
The bottom line, Plante says, is you shouldn't trust a seller pitching incredible software deals through email. Symantec is also warning customers that the pirated software could include keystroke loggers and other monitoring tools that could send information you type to criminals.
"Pretty much at every level of the government we have working relationships with law enforcement," Plante says.
Symantec says a special email address set up for concerned consumers is generating some 2,000 messages a day.
The company's message: If the deal sounds too good to be true, it not only is, but could also lead to disaster.
For more information, visit Symantec's Spam Watch website. Customers who feel they may have been scammed, or who have received spammed offers for Symantec products, are also encouraged to email Symantec at spamwatch@symantec.com.
