Autodesk 2014 Annual Report Download - page 97

2013 Annual Report
2014 Form 10-K 23
We make significant efforts to maintain the security and integrity of our product source code and computer systems. The
risk of a security breach or disruption, particularly through cyber attack or cyber intrusion, including by computer hackers,
foreign governments and cyber terrorists, has increased as the number, intensity and sophistication of attempted attacks and
intrusions from around the world have increased. These threats include but are not limited to identity theft, unauthorized access,
DNS attacks, wireless network attacks, viruses and worms, advanced persistent threat (APT), application centric attacks, peer-
to-peer attacks, phishing, backdoor trojans and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. Any of the foregoing could attack
our products and computer systems. Despite significant efforts to create security barriers to such programs, it is virtually
impossible for us to entirely eliminate this risk. Like all software products, our software is vulnerable to cyber attacks. In the
past, hackers have targeted our software, and they may do so in the future. The impact of cyber attacks could disrupt the proper
functioning of our software products, cause errors in the output of our customers' work, allow unauthorized access to sensitive,
proprietary or confidential information of ours or our customers, and other destructive outcomes. Moreover, as we continue to
invest in new lines of consumer products and services we are exposed to increased security risks and the potential for
unauthorized access to, or improper use of, the information of our consumer users. If any of the foregoing were to occur, our
reputation may suffer, customers may stop buying our products, we could face lawsuits and potential liability, and our financial
performance could be negatively impacted.
We rely on third-parties to provide us with a number of operational services, including hosting and delivery and certain of our
customer services and other operations; any interruption or delay in service from these third parties, breaches of security or
privacy, or failures in data collection could expose us to liability, harm our reputation and adversely impact our financial
performance.
We rely on hosted computer services from third parties for services that we provide our customers and computer
operations for our internal use. As we gather customer data and host certain customer data in third-party facilities, a security
breach could compromise the integrity or availability or result in the theft of customer data. In addition, our operations could be
negatively affected in the event of a security breach, and we could be subject to the loss or theft of confidential or proprietary
information, including source code.
Unauthorized access to this data may be obtained through break-ins, breaches of our secure networks by unauthorized
parties, employee theft or misuse, or other misconduct. We rely on a number of third party suppliers in the operation of our
business for the provision of various services and materials that we use in the operation of our business and production of our
products. Although we seek to diversify our third party suppliers, we may from time to time rely on a single or limited number
of suppliers, or upon suppliers in a single country, for these services or materials. The inability of such third parties to satisfy
our requirements could disrupt our business operations or make it more difficult for us to implement our business strategy. If
any of these situations were to occur, our reputation could be harmed, we could be subject to third party liability, including
under data protection and privacy laws in certain jurisdictions, and our financial performance could be negatively impacted.
If we are not able to adequately protect our proprietary rights, our business could be harmed.
We rely on a combination of patent, copyright and trademark laws, trade secret protections, confidentiality procedures
and contractual provisions to protect our proprietary rights. Despite such efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized
parties from time to time have copied aspects of our software products or have obtained and used information that we regard as
proprietary. Policing unauthorized use of our software products is time-consuming and costly. While we have recovered some
revenue resulting from the unauthorized use of our software products, we are unable to measure the extent to which piracy of
our software products exists and we expect that software piracy will remain a persistent problem, particularly in emerging
economies. Furthermore, our means of protecting our proprietary rights may not be adequate.
Additionally, we actively protect the secrecy of our confidential information and trade secrets, including our source code.
If unauthorized disclosure of our source code occurs, we could potentially lose future trade secret protection for that source
code. The loss of future trade secret protection could make it easier for third-parties to compete with our products by copying
functionality, which could adversely affect our financial performance and our reputation. We also seek to protect our
confidential information and trade secrets through the use of non-disclosure agreements with our customers, contractors,
vendors and partners. However, it is possible that our confidential information and trade secrets may be disclosed or published
without our authorization. If this were to occur, it may be difficult and/or costly for us to enforce our rights, and our financial
performance and reputation could be negatively impacted.