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early 60 percent of Indonesian computer users operate pirated software, despite government attempts to raise awareness for using genuine programs, Microsoft worldwide antipiracy general manager Dinis Couto has said.

According to a recent study from the Business Software Alliance (BSA), said Couto, 86 percent of all programs installed on computers in Indonesia in 2011 were unlicensed or pirated.

'A significant part of that number is consumers,' Couto said during a visit to Jakarta on Tuesday.

He added that the country's piracy rate dropped by only one point from 87 percent in 2010.

BSA also estimated that the pirated software industry had a commercial value of US$1.47 billion, which partly indicates the potential losses borne by software giants, such as Microsoft.

Industry Ministry small and medium-sized enterprises director general Euis Saedah said previously that the government had started an anti-piracy campaign 13 years ago, but people's awareness of intellectual property rights (IPR) remained low.

Couto said that his company was helping the country better manage their software assets by focusing on education.

He said that Microsoft, through its local arm Microsoft Indonesia, had promoted the importance of protecting IPR through specific agreements on the use of genuine Microsoft software with three universities in Jakarta, namely Open University, Bina Nusantara University and Surya Institute.

He said that people's computers would not likely be infected with malicious software (malware) if they used genuine software, which provided cyber security.

Malware can erase data, files and personal information, and is usually created by criminals aiming to steal sensitive data from businesses and other institutions by pirating emails, social networking sites and bank accounts.

'Cyber security is becoming more and more relevant as the world has moved from a physical world to an electronic one, so guaranteeing the security of those transactions is very important,' Couto said.

A recent study conducted by the National University of Singapore and the International Data Center (IDC) found that 63 percent of all personal computers (PCs) in Indonesia were infected with malware.

The percentage was higher than the global figure of 61 percent.

The study also estimated that consumers in the Asia-Pacific would need to spend $11 billion this year on fixing security issues resulting from the use of pirated software.

Microsoft Indonesia genuine initiative software director Sudimin Mina said that reducing the use of pirated software would also be of importance for businesspeople.

'Pirated software ' which could be infected by malware ' could slow down the performance of [businesspeople's] computer systems, affecting their business performance,' he said.

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) recently estimated that a small business using genuine software would create two times more jobs and grow revenue 50 percent faster than those using pirated software, Couto said.