When it Comes to Cybersecurity, Don’t Forget the Printer
Cybersecurity awareness is essential year-round. Data breaches continue to have a significant financial impact on organizations worldwide, highlighting the importance of strong cybersecurity.
If your organization isn’t taking security seriously, it’s only a matter of time before you become a target. Every device on your network and every person with access to those devices is a potential attack vector — and yes, that includes copiers and multifunction printers (MFPs).
Print devices can be hacked, used for malicious purposes, serve as entry points for cyberattacks, and essentially do anything a computer can be exploited for. To ensure a secure environment, it’s best to treat them with the same precautions you use for computers and servers.
Access and Passwords
You wouldn’t leave the default password on your network router or allow users to set their password as “password,” would you? (Would you? Don’t.) The same applies to your printer. Compromised credentials remain one of the most common attack vectors. During setup, the admin password should be changed, and users with administrative access should be limited. Another way to control access to critical functions is by configuring the devices with Active Directory user authentication, making them trusted network devices, and providing tighter control over user permissions.
Network and Email Security
Modern MFPs are often gateways to an organization’s network. They offer an accessible network and cloud storage, as well as the ability to email documents directly from the control panel. If connections are unencrypted or unsecured, hackers can gain access to a device, creating a pathway into the network. Network administrators must implement proper security protocols on every networked print device to prevent this.
Controlled Output
Secure print release should be standard, especially in industries handling personally identifiable information (PII). “Paper left on the output tray” remains a common source of breaches, even today. Fortunately, most new printers offer secure release options, including NFC and mobile device authentication, giving administrators more control over document access.
Don’t Forget the Hard Drive
Yet another similarity between printers and computers is the fact that they have hard drives that contain sensitive data. Before trading in or disposing of a computer, most people know that the hard drive needs to be wiped clean. The same is true of an MFP’s hard drive. Scanned documents, user data, and more need to be wiped clean before disposal or trade-in.
Get it All Under Control
Printer security is essential for organizations of all sizes. Even for smaller organizations with a small IT staff or a single person serving as IT support, ensuring print device security can be overwhelming. Fortunately, many print device providers now provide assistance in the form of software, monitoring programs, and entire security suites that can help keep print security under control. And of course, having hardware designed with advanced security in mind makes it much easier to maintain control.
Look for devices with built-in multi-layered security like data encryption, data overwrite, intrusion security features, encryption, built-in email security, auditing abilities, and more. Devices designed with today’s security landscape in mind will offer protection against everything we’ve mentioned and more, allowing IT admins peace of mind when setting up new devices.
Other features, like remote device monitoring, give admins a full picture of all the MFPs on the network, allowing them to view not only things like supply status, but also centrally manage passwords and monitor admin access. It’s a complete picture in a simple step that greatly simplifies things for the staff.
The security landscape isn’t going to improve anytime soon. As long as cybercriminals can make money and gain notoriety from attacks, they will. Every organization, regardless of size, must stay vigilant – and that includes securing every device on the network.
Sharp MFPs and printers are built with multi-layered security in mind, incorporating each of the measures mentioned above and designed to help protect your organization.