Are your still not securing your office printer ?

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of HP MPS. All opinions are 100% mine.

If you purchased a printer in the last couple of years, chances are that the printer is able to connect to your office network via a network cable or via WiFi. Your printer has probably got remarkable facilities such as being able to print a document via email and even print a document directly from your cell phone.

Printers have come a long way since being connected to one computer with a printer cable and a massive office queue of people looking for their printed documents.

Unfortunately with all the convenience innovation, there is an inherent security risk which hackers are quick to manipulate and exploit.

What is worrying is that companies are still not taking printer security seriously and this is usually bottom of the priority list!

The Security Issue

Large industrial office printers need a way to handle and manage several simultaneous printing requirements, often from multiple people. In order to do so, and speed up the printing process, printers scan the documents to their internal hard drive where the documents are processed and stored ready to be printed.

Those companies that are not aware of this, run the risk of having confidential company information remain on the hard drive of the printer when the printer is disposed. This information is easily collected and viewed by anyone who wants to take a peek.

In an organization, not everyone needs to have access to every bit of information. While information is heavily restricted on the company data storage network, those companies that haven’t implemented Printer User security means that sensitive information may be printed or collected from the printer by anyone – even those not authorized to do so.

Protect your printer

Yes. Just like any other part of our IT system, the printer needs to be protected and secured. This is usually a headache for IT staff to manage as they constantly need to update each printer’s firmware and manage its security rights on the network.  Managing multiple printers is not so simple especially when the company’s users deem other tech issues to be more important than “just the printer”.

This is where HP Secure Printing Service (HP MPS) comes to the rescue.

The HP Secure Print Analysis

HP has developed the HP Secure Print Analysis tool (SPA Tool) whose aim is to reveal and highlight any printing security issues within the organization.

HP security monitoring and management solutions can help businesses identify vulnerabilities and establish a unified, policy-based approach to protecting data, strengthening compliance and reducing overall data risk.

The HP Security Print Analysis focuses several factors of the printing environment, from user management to the physical printer. Issues such as the printer’s internal storage are examined. If the printer is storing documents, these need to be encrypted or erased on a regular basis.

Physical access to the printer output tray is often overlooked. This would mean that anyone in the vicinity of the printer is able to simply collect any print jobs that have not been collected.  This too is highlighted in the analysis so that preventative actions can be taken.

Are your Printers safe?

If you would like to check how vulnerable or safe your printers are, then head over to HP and check out the HP Secure Print Analysis Survey . Answering a couple of simple questions will reveal a checklist showing fundamental and advance printer security protections in relation to the policies your organization has already implemented.

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