Employees risk corporate security by accessing pirated content

6 in 10 Brits who use personal devices for work also use the same device for streaming or downloading pirated content.

Whilst the research, conducted by OnePulse, found that 80% of individuals in the UK who access pirated content on these devices do consider the personal security risks of doing so, such as a malware infection, 4 in 10 do not consider the security implications for their organisation when accessing this content.

Malware incidents

From the piracy sites studied, 33% had at least one malware incident within the 4 week period studied, whilst 20 of the piracy sites exposed 3 in 4 (75%) visitors to malware.

Of the malware found 45% was drive by downloads, where the visitor to the site doesn’t need to click on anything after arriving on the page, infecting users silently and often going completely undetected. The remaining 55% of malware lured users with prompts to download flash or anti-virus updates.

Driving factors

It’s predominantly cost and accessibility which is driving Brits to risk these malware riddled sites and access pirated content. The most popular reasons given for downloading or streaming pirate content are because it’s free (23%), it’s available before paid (13%), the belief that all content should be free (12%) and that the content people are trying to access is not available any other way in the region (10%).

“Research conducted by IFPI and its national groups, has shown that cyber criminals have used content, such as music, as a way to compel users to download malicious applications. Once installed, many users unwittingly grant the malicious application excessive permissions thereby allowing an attacker to gain access to information on the device which could compromise the security of both the user and the corporation. Our own findings have been corroborated by the study that RiskIQ has carried out, showing that there is a definitive need for businesses to prevent user access to pirated content and those applications that facilitate such access,” said Graeme Grant, Head of Internet Anti-Piracy Operations at IFPI.