Software audit
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A software audit is an investigation of the software installed on the computers in an organisation with the purpose of ensuring that it is all legal and authorised.
Software audits minimise the risk of prosecution for software piracy due to use of unlicensed software. In addition with a strict software usage policy the risk of viruses are minimised by preventing uncontrolled software copying.
To determine if you have the right number of licenses for installed software, you need to perform a software audit on all personal computers within your organisation(s). Software audits are a standard element of any organization's asset tracking process.
Controversy
Threats of software audits are often made by the Business Software Alliance which represent numerous large software organizations such as Microsoft, Adobe Systems, and Borland. It conducts campaigns to encourage dissaffected employees to notify them of any breaches.