IT companies are the biggest software piracy offenders and represented a quarter of all recorded licensing irregularity cases last year, according to the latest data from the Business Software Alliance (BSA).

The group explained that the IT sector more than any other should understand the value that software brings to an organisation.

"We are particularly unhappy to see the lack of diligence within the IT sector," said Siobhan Carroll, regional manager for northern Europe at the BSA.

"We are hoping that the time and effort spent educating organisations last year has encouraged them to make software compliance their new year resolution.

"We would like to see the IT sector as a guardian for our mission, but this is clearly not the case."

The software watchdog added that other regular offenders include construction/engineering and architecture/design companies, which together represented 27 per cent of settlements, and educational organisations, which made up eight per cent.