Printers are as necessary to business today as a phone or the internet. What you may not realize is that if not managed properly, they also pose a serious threat to your IT security.
Recent research has shown that roughly 60 percent of surveyed companies has suffered at least one printer-related security breach. Surprisingly, only 25 percent of organizations that participated in the same survey consider printer security an area worth prioritizing.
Although most people view a printer simply as an output device, a printer that has been integrated into an organization’s network usually comes with little to no out of the box protection. Therefore a printer can act as one of the biggest attack points in a company’s IT infrastructure. Companies may have no idea that they’re vulnerable to common print security risks such as:
Theft – Any documents that are left unsecured can easily be removed from the document tray by anyone in the office, either by accident or on purpose.
Printer attacks – Whether they attempt to bring a network system to a halt by issuing a barrage of fake print jobs, or using the device in a denial of service (DDoS) attack, skilled hackers can exploit printers to wreak havoc on company resources.
Data breaches – Customer information, personal health information, and other forms of confidential documents are regularly stored in printer caches. Left unguarded, this info is easy pickings for criminals and a juicy target for ransomware.
Managed print services (MPS) from Capital Business Systems help organizations optimize, streamline, and simplify their printing environment.
Look for next week’s blog, where we’ll discuss printer security strategies.