A security risk can seriously damage your company’s operations and reputation, and repairing them can prove costly. While most companies have strategies in place to protect their IT infrastructure, many neglect one obvious weak spot – printers and multi-functional devices (MFDs).
Networked printers and MFDs are capable of copying, printing, faxing, scanning and emailing information both electronically and in hard copy formats. Like any other networked device, they need to be protected to keep valuable data secure.
So where are the obvious weak spots and how can they be secured?…….
Output Tray: This is the most common vulnerability point. How many confidential documents do you see on a daily basis lying unclaimed at the printer? To eradicate this, the simplest solution is to ensure that users authenticate themselves at the device so that the document can be released securely and confidentially.
Hard Disk: Printers and MFDs are capable of storing files sent to print on a hard disk. Is this a Security Risk? When these printers and MFDs leave your business and are returned at the end of a lease, it could leave with a drive full of your company’s confidential information. The solution is to ensure your hard disk drives are encrypted, erased or removed.
Network: It’s surprisingly easy to intercept print jobs as they travel across your company network to the printer or MFD. Be sure to encrypt all print jobs sent over your network.
Fleet Control: Actively assessing, managing and auditing print security across your entire printing environment takes time and know-how. The best solution is to continuously audit your print environment. If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. Fleet management software is ideal for this task as you can manage your entire fleet from a single PC.
Many of our clients use intelligent print management software to help them secure their confidential documents. These software solutions are often referred to as “Pull” or “Follow-Me” Printing. Not only are they good at enhancing security, they are also ideal for reducing print costs by sometimes as much as 30%.
Quocirca, leading industry analysts have produced an interesting report in association with our partner HP – it’s called Think Print, Think Security – click here to download your copy.
Why not assess your fleet right now? – determine what types of devices you have, how they’re used and by whom, so you can implement security features and solutions that greatly reduce the chance of a breach. As a trusted advisor to many Scottish businesses Capital is ideally placed to help you with securing your confidential documents, give us a call, we’re here to help.
Graham Thompson, Professional Services Consultant
Posted in Control Costs, Document Management Solutions, Managed Print Service
