Why You Must Include Your Print Environment in Your Cybersecurity Strategy
With the growing occurrence of cybercrime, most businesses have this threat on their radar. However, while organizations are quick to secure their computers, printers are often overlooked when creating a cybersecurity policy.
According to a recent survey, approximately 60 percent of the businesses interviewed had experienced a security breach involving their printers. Cybercriminals are aware that a printer poses a number of vulnerabilities to a business, which is why the printer has become a popular target for cybercrime.
Outlined below are several security risks that your printer can create for your business:
- Unencrypted data on your printer’s hard drive
- Mobile printing
- Documents left abandoned on the printer’s output tray
- Unauthorized access of the printer by not requiring user authentication
- Unsecured cloud connectivity
As you can see, your print environment needs to be a necessary component of your cybersecurity strategy to adequately protect your business from cybercrime.
Here are three steps that your business needs to take to defend your print environment:
Step 1: Secure the printer.
A major advantage that a newer model printer offers to your business is that it has layers of embedded security features to protect your printer from becoming compromised at every level, from start-up to shut-down. A Managed IT Services provider will ensure that the device in your workplace is compliant with internationally recognized security standards and that all updates are code signed to confirm authenticity.
Step 2: Secure the data.
Your data needs to be protected, whether it’s in transit or stored on your printer’s hard drive. The latest model printers feature a variety of encryption capabilities to make data nearly impossible to decipher if intercepted. Before decommissioning a printer, it’s imperative that your business takes the time to erase all data stored on the hard drive before disposing of the device.
Step 3: Secure documents.
Printed documents left unattended on the output tray pose a serious security threat to your business. To prevent sensitive documents from becoming abandoned on the output tray, your organization can utilize pull printing. This process requires the user to input an authentication code at the printer to release the documents and eliminates the risk that documents will be left uncollected.
A Managed IT Services provider can help you to put together a cohesive cybersecurity policy that takes into account your print environment. Contact us to learn how we can help you protect your business.
