Use of unlicensed software is a threat to national security of Georgia

Over 70 per cent of Georgian officials use pirate software, and it's a serious threat to the national security of Georgia, said Irakli Gvenetadze, the head of the special commission at the Ministry of Justice - Kavkaz-Online.

According to Business Software Alliance and IDC Global Software, Georgia is the world's biggest consumer of unlicensed software, the results of the special analytical investigation showed that licensed soft amounts only 5 per cent of the country's pool.

Scott Borg, the director and economist of USCCU [American organisation, fighting cyber crime] thinks that in 2008 many governmental sites of Georgia were successfully hacked because of the pirate software, failing to provide the due security.

Gvenetadze explains that one more reason to concern about the informational security is Georgia's membership in WTO, which, in its turn, demands observation of intellectual property rights from its members. "The government doesn't want to use illegal software," Gvenetadze said.

Currently Georgian authorities are negotiating with Microsoft on supplies of licensed software.

On the estimation of Zurab Mujanihvili, the representative of Microsoft to Georgia, on potential sales his company loses about USD 50 mln annually.

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