The survey, which was done in 10 countries, covered 1,104 consumer respondents, 973 business user respondents and 268 CIO/IT manager respondents.

The survey respondents said 32 percent of their PCs come without operating systems and 12 per cent did not install security updates. 30 per cent of consumer respondents did not install security updates and nearly 70 per cent of consumers who use pirated software had problems with it.

That apart, 64 percent of the respondents who had used counterfeit software experienced security issues, while, 45 per cent said counterfeit software slowed their PCs and software had to be uninstalled.

Also 48 per cent of respondents said that their greatest concern with using counterfeit software was data loss and 29 per cent were most concerned with identity theft.

The study also found that a very high percentage of corporate users download software unauthorised as per their corporate policy, exposing another risk to the workplace.

Embedding malware with counterfeit software is a new method for criminals to prey on computer users who are unaware of the potential danger, Khanna said.

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