With the digital landscape moving at such a fast pace, we thought we’d highlight the hot topic of print security in this month’s blog.

For a long time, provided companies secured their endpoints and ensured anti-virus software was updated; they were doing a good job of keeping their organisation secure.

As threats have become more advanced and hardware has become more complex, the issue of print security has become something that needs addressing.

As printers have evolved, they are essentially mini-computers in their own right. With Quocirca estimating that 11% of security incidents are print related, this is fast becoming something not to be ignored.

Let’s look at the ways that print can be abused as a vulnerability on your network: –

1. Poor access control – leaving devices with default or weak access credentials (such as factory passwords) can make them easy targets; hackers can potentially gain access to these machines and exploit this vulnerability to access documents or compromise the wider network.
2. Having outdated firmware can also cause vulnerabilities. If printers are not updated with the latest security patches, they can be open to attack again from unauthorised practices or other malicious activities like malware.
3. Unsecured protocols can also cause you big issues – if connections are encrypted, then hackers can intercept print jobs or corrupt the print data stream.
4. Unauthorised access to printer storage – many printers have internal storage that can store copies of printed documents – again, these need to be properly encrypted as they can be targets for gaining access.
5. Lack of printer security policies – having inadequate practises can leave your network vulnerable – your print network should be protected from the relevant firewalls and regularly monitored for any suspicious activity.

Ensuring you keep a large fleet of printers up to date with the right firmware and security procedures can be a big job; thankfully, it is also one of the benefits of having a managed print services contract in place; one of our initial consultations will consider the security risk that your printing operation may face so we can ensure the service we put in place will protect your organisation from any threats with a robust print strategy.

Some of the key areas we support our clients with print security are: –

• Implementing authentication methods, including passwords, PIN codes, or “pull printing” to reduce unauthorised access to sensitive information.
• Enabling secure printing with encrypted print data, storage and transmission.
• Setting up document audits and tracking – we can provide detailed reports to show the flow of documents throughout your organisation.
• Helping you to educate your workforce on the importance of print security and the vulnerabilities that can exist.
• Ensuring all hardware is up to date with the latest firmware and security patches.
• Monitoring and responding to any security threats to proactively ensure your organisation is protected.

As you can see, there is a lot to consider with print security – not focusing on a secure strategy can leave you open to serious external threats. A key element of our managed print service contracts is ensuring that your print operation is as secure as possible, and is a critical ongoing process within our customer agreements. If you’re concerned about your potential vulnerabilities, then speak to our team today, and we can work together to ensure you are protected in the future.