contentsecurity2209v2_cs 26/09/2015 17:26 Page 6
Online copyright piracy hits $800bn
esearch by application
protection company Arxan and
the iThreat Cyber Group (ICG)
suggests that the illegal reproduction
and distribution of copyrighted material
on the Web is extensive and growing
rapidly.
The pair analysed data collected by ICG
over the past three and a half years that looked
at the distribution of pirated software and
digital assets on the Dark Web (i.e., the
portion of content on the World Wide Web
that is not indexed by standard search
engines) and indexed sites that are focused on
distributing pirated releases. Thousands of
sites were analysed, including more than 50
that are solely in the business of distributing
pirated releases. The analysis revealed:
Pirated software and digital assets are
on the rise
l There were over 1.6 million pirated
releases in 2014, and if 2015 continues at
the same pace, there will be 1.96 million
pirated assets by the end of the year an
increase of 22%
over the last three
years.
l 41% of pirated
software was
Android apps and
17% were key
makers or
generators that can
help hackers gain
unauthorised access to applications and
related data.
Online games are heavily pirated
R
l If distribution of pirated games continues
at the same rate for the rest of the year, it is
estimated that there will be over 31,000
pirated releases in 2015 which would be
double the number of pirated releases since
2012.
The extent of digital media piracy is far
more extensive than commonly
perceived
l In 2013 and 2014 an average of nearly 1
million pirated releases were discovered.
l In reviewing the pirated assets found in
2015, videos (TV, movies,
etc., but excluding adult
content) accounted for
about 50% and adult
content accounted for
roughly 25%.
l The cost or un-monetised
value of these pirated
materials in 2014 is
estimated to be more than
$800 billion.
“The findings in Arxan’s State of
Application Security prove that piracy is one
There were over 1.6
million pirated
releases in 2014, and
if 2015 continues at
the same pace, there
will be 1.96 million
Friend MTS protects
Premier League
broadcasts
The Premier League is
ramping up protection of its
live broadcasts with the
appointment of Friend MTS
to help secure its pay TV
licensees’ OTT and TV
Everywhere streams across
the globe.
Using its global internet
monitoring system, and
network forensics capability,
Friend MTS will identify where
security weaknesses are being
exploited, and the Premier
League notified.
Kevin Plumb, Head of Legal
Services for The Premier
League, said that protecting
the distribution of its live
games across all video
platforms was paramount to
the League and its broadcast
partners. “By working with
Friend MTS we will be able to
identify any platform leaks,
thereby ensuring that they
can be fixed quickly.”
Friend MTS’ s CEO
Jonathan Friend said the
Premier League was always
innovating and evolving in its
approach to piracy, and
suggested the new
partnership would enhance
this further by identifying
real-world exploits of
platform security
vulnerabilities. “By making it
of the greatest threats to intellectual property
and creative content, highlighting the
enabling role pirated releases play in
spreading extremely harmful malware across
a range of industries – where the challenges
of defending against it – are complex, but not
insurmountable,” said Patrick Kehoe, chief
marketing officer of Arxan.
Hackers are gaining access to digital media
using a number of techniques outlined in the
report. Most are stealing cryptographic keys
that govern access to digital media and using
these keys to decrypt encrypted digital media
files, and illegally distribute them.
Hundreds of millions of Internet users
worldwide are accessing pirate distribution
sites. Many of these sites survive based on Ad
revenue (i.e., advertisers are paying to
promote their products and services on these
sites), while others charge users a fee or
request donations from their users. The
largest content theft sites generated more
than $200 million in advertising-driven
revenues in 2014.
“The threat posed by piracy cannot be
limited to its effects on one company, one
industry or one country. The sheer number of
cases in the US and abroad, dictates software,
digital media and mobile gaming industries
become savvier with regards to techniques for
combating pirated releases across national
boundaries,” said Jeff Bedser, CEO