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Print infrastructure is rated as the #2 IT risk that can lead to security breaches, according to Quocirca's 2019 Global Print Security Landscape. So what are the key security gaps relating to printing, and what can organisations do to close them?
When users print, copy or scan documents, they're often entrusting confidential or sensitive information to their organisation's print infrastructure. But if the act of printing, and the devices themselves, aren't secured, that information can be put at risk.
At least one print-related breach was reported by 61% of respondents in research by Quocirca. And it's easy to see how those breaches could happen. For example:
Protect data by identifying users
For many organisations, an optimised fleet of multifunctional printers (MFPs) makes sense: it's generally economically attractive, and allows a large number of users access to advanced features. But the fact that those devices are often located in communal areas and shared by multiple users raises the risk of documents falling into the wrong hands, whether by design or by mistake. Indeed. Quocirca's research reveals that unclaimed print jobs left in the output tray is a leading cause of MFP-related data breaches.
Organisations can guard against this risk by implementing a secure (or 'follow me') printing solution. This requires users to identify themselves at the device — using their employee ID card, for example — to release the print job. (As an added bonus, secure printing helps reduces wasted print, too.) Traditionally, secure printing solutions have been installed on premises, but they're now moving to the cloud, which allows greater flexibility and scalability.
Secure printing will generally be part of a broader solution for monitoring and safeguarding print infrastructure that's designed to help organisations:
· Track users who scan documents to external users — and know which documents were sent
· Prevent interception of print and scan jobs as they travel over the network to the MFP or other output device
· Enhance the security of mobile- and cloud-based printing capabilities
Make the most of your devices' security features
As well as implementing secure printing and monitoring solutions for your print infrastructure, it's well worth checking what security features are built into your printers and MFPs, and whether they've been activated.
To protect the document data stored on the device's internal hard drive, look for data encryption and overwriting capabilities, as well as time-limited storage features. You may also be able to encrypt and/or password-protect the hard drive itself, so that if the drive or the entire device falls into the wrong hands, any data stored on it remains secure and inaccessible.
In addition, consider (if you can) setting an administrator password to prevent unauthorised changes to the device's control panel and security settings.
And last but not least, look to secure the device's USB or network ports. Like any other device, printers and MFPs are endpoints on the corporate network and represent a potential attack vector. So like any other networked device, they should be secured to prevent them becoming a gateway onto your network that could allow viruses, malware and bad actors into your organisation.