Channel Register

FAST acts against corporate file sharers

Controls not enough

By John Oates • Get more from this author

Posted in Software & Security, 23rd February 2007 16:53 GMT

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The Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) has taken action against "a high profile training company" for allowing its network to be used for file sharing.

FAST, or The Federation as it now prefers to be called, contacted the company with its suspicions that staff were illegally sharing files. The company, which cannot be named for legal reasons, responded that it had adequate safeguards in place to stop users sharing files or software.

The firm also said it used a software audit tool to ensure its own licenses were in order.

The Federation investigated and found evidence of software being shared and found that the audit tool was not given sufficient access to the whole company network.

The anonymous company has now installed encryption on its network and has changed its employment contracts so it can easily sack file sharers.

And just to avoid confusion, The Federation in this case is the Federation Against Software Theft. Not the intergalactic version of the United Nations beloved of Star Trek fans, or the "manufacturers of high quality fetish and goth clothes in rubber, leather and PVC" which are offered up by Google. ®

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