Those involved in using counterfeit software may get more than they have bargained for. And while pirated copies of Windows XP and Microsoft Office come at a low cost or even with no cost at all, IDC has calculated on Microsoft's behalf the hidden costs of implementing illegal software products. "The cost of recovering from an incident of malicious software on a single workstation could exceed one thousand dollars (USD). The cost of lost or compromised data could exceed tens of thousands of dollars (USD) per incident. Thus, the cost savings of using pirated software could be eradicated with a single security breach," revealed IDC.

Following the study commissioned to IDC by Microsoft, the market researcher concluded that a staggering 59% of the key generators and crack tools downloaded from P2P networks represent a security liability since they contain malicious and unwanted code.

"25% of the Web sites we accessed offering counterfeit product keys, pirated software, key generators or crack tools attempted to install either malicious software or potentially unwanted software. A significant number of these Web sites attempted to install malicious or unwanted code," added IDC.

In addition to the peer-to-peer networks, 11% of the key generators and crack tools downloaded from Web sites were also plagued by malicious and unwanted software.

"The kind of malicious and unwanted code we found is symptomatic of the transformation noticed by security professionals in the motivations of attackers from hacking for fun to seeking information held on computers as a means to illgotten gains. Offering pirated software, crack tools, key generators can be just another way for attackers to lure victims into their scams," stated IDC.