Pirates threaten software industry

Computer Audit Update

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Alan Tolhurst is the Quality and Risk Manager in the Change Management Division at the Inland Revenue . He has developed a range of audit methodologies and approaches for use in the dynamic environment associated with Information Technology. His current role involves the development and application of quality and risk management processes across a large programme of projects . The role includes the management of Quality Audits, Project Audits and Post Implementation Reviews . This article first appeared as a presentation at COMPACS '94, London, UK.

October 1994

Whilst the shutdown at the world's busiest commodities exchange at the Chicago Board of Trade held back trading and the normally frenzied traders on the floor read books or slept, O'Hare airport was paralysed for nearly two hours as FAA crews frantically tried to restore power . Only planes on their final descent were allowed to land and controllers were forced to revert to guiding planes home with 1950s technology . As controllers at Aurora direct flights in a 155 000 square mile airspace, Chicago's Midway Airport had its take-offs and landings heldback as well and Chicago-bound flights throughout the nation were also delayed in a knock-on effect from the problems due to the outage. Reflecting on the days technological mess, Allan Schnaiberg, a Northwestern University sociology professor, forewarned that although technology is appearing to be productive, efficient and competitive, "we don't pay enough attention to the flip side of that : the bigger the system, the more likely the accident ."

DTI code to become British standard

NEWS Chicago nightmare - the shape of things to come? A catalogue of unrelated technological mishaps occurred together in the space of a few hours in Chicago recently, reports the Democrat & Chronicle, Rochester, NY . The problems for Chicago began at O'Hare International Airport which was brought to a virtual standstill when all of the radar systems shut down at a regional air traffic control centre in suburban Aurora because of a power cut . Shortly after this, computers at the Board of Trade shut down, the reasons for which were not immediately known, and trading was delayed for overthree hours . During the mayhem, Chicago-area residents using the long distance telephone service from MCI Communications Corp. found their service disrupted for two hours due to a problem with a software switch .

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On 1 November 1994, the DTI's code of practice on information security is set to become a British standard . Computer Weekly reports that the standard aims to give companies confidence in their own IT security procedures . The standard, BS7800, will be substantially the same as the code of practice announced by the DTI and the BSI in September last year . There will be a few alterations arising from public consultation and efforts to remove textual conflicts from the document and ensure that the precise details are clear and easily understood .

Pirates threaten software industry The vice president of the BSA in China, Alix Parlour Grace, has revealed to the Asian Wall Street Journal Weekly that the software publishing industry lost more than $600 million in China during 1993 . Losses come from computer users who illegally copy software and computer

©1994 Elsevier Science Ltd



October 1994

Computer Audit Update

retailers who include pirated versions of software with hardware sales . There is an entire industry dedicated to copying software material including packaging, manuals and license forms . The BSA estimates that less than 6% of the software used in China is obtained legally . Counterfeiting is a full-time occupation which uses equipment originally designed for music CDs, but now adapted to make computer software . The Alliance is threatened by a tidal wave of illegal software products that may swamp the market in China and could flood over to the rest of the world . China's counterfeiters follow closely the trends in the software market. The amount of unauthorized software available on CD-ROM is already staggering . Available are copies of a single title from one publisher through to compendiums of software from several publishers. The choice for China seems to be to chase the short-term profits from selling illegal software or to show that China is a safe place for high-tech investment and technology transfer, and thereby develop a stronger industry in the long-run . In the meantime, the BSA cannot compete with the distributor of illegal software .

Latest version of The Barefoot Auditor released An updated version of The Barefoot Auditor, which identifies and captures copyright and product information directly from within the executable files on a PC, is to be released by Pathfinder. The new 1 .2 version of the software auditing tool features an enhanced Product Identification Engine capable of recognizing a much wider range of product files .

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