The Russians are looking for a cracked version of Microsoft software

Internet searches for Microsoft’s cracked software increased by a maximum of 250 percent after the company halted new sales on March 4, the Kommersant newspaper reported. Since the beginning of June, the search for Excel downloads has increased by 650%.

According to ISNA, Microsoft announced earlier this month that it had significantly reduced its operations in Russia and joined the ranks of companies that are closing their businesses in Russia amid the adoption of extensive Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine. The move has hurt Russia because the company is dependent on foreign software for technology systems in manufacturing and engineering.

According to the Moscow Times, Russian government agencies are also switching from Microsoft Windows to the Linux operating system. “Developers of Russian systems based on the open source Linux operating system are seeing more demand,” Kommersant wrote.

Not all departments have been able to change their systems easily. In the case of industries, manufacturers use external software for machines, and according to Sergei Donaev, IT director of Surreal Steel, equipment manufacturers carefully protect their intellectual property and, in many cases, give customers direct access to codes. They do not pay for the management of their factories. All industries face similar problems. Many processes in modern units are controlled by software.

In the short term, there are few alternatives.

According to Business Insider, Elena Simonovskaya, a Russian market analyst at IDC, said: “Russian analogues in this area are much weaker and there is a great need.” But for now, the approach is to rely on copyright infringement and old versions.