Types of Software Audits

We are seeing a rise in software audits in the Engineering Software vertical. Just last week one of our clients was being Audited by Ansys.

There are two main reasons for Audits:

  • Combat software piracy
  • Contract Non–compliance

Both can result in fines and are driven as a source of revenue generation. So what are the differences and where do they originate from?

Software Piracy Audit

Where do these originate from:-

  • Whistleblower or ex-employees. – Pirated/ ‘cracked’ licenses and over-installing on multiple workstations (Think Shadow IT).
  • Social media – LinkedIn profiles are an easy target.
  • CV databases – Vendors can ask for a ‘voluntary software audit’, but this can pretty quickly turn into a targeted investigation.
Non-compliance Audit

Where do these originate from:

  • Exceeding the scope of the license (EULA) – Using student or ‘home-use’ licenses for commercial work
  • Vendor reporting technology – ‘Phone home’ mechanisms; report how many installs on a network
  • Software use in unauthorized geographic zone – IP address analysis from ‘Phone home’ mechanisms

Stay tuned for our other posts on software audits.

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