With data security on every business owner's mind these days, you've probably spent some time scrutinizing your company's vulnerabilities. A recent high-profile data breach involving print security made for some sensational headlines, bringing an often overlooked issued some much-needed attention.
If you take some time to think about where your company's data is stored, print security should go straight to the top of your urgent to-do list. Most businesses are diligent about protecting the data stored on desktop and laptop computers, but not everyone is aware of the many risk factors presented by an unprotected print environment. Let's take a look at three.
1. Your Network
Your copiers and printers used to be single-function devices that printed documents and did little else. Today's multifunction printers include advanced workflow solutions that work only because of built-in hard drives and network connections. Without the latest print security protocols in place, your devices can give hackers a direct portal into your network.
2. The Printer's Hard Drive
Many people are surprised to learn that every document that passes through their printers and copiers is still there, stored on the device hard drive. To protect this data, take steps to delete completed print jobs from the device. And during decommissioning, get guarantees from your vendor that they'll overwrite the data stored on the device hard drive.
3. The Print Trays
How many times have you walked up to a printer and found an unclaimed document in the print tray? Organizations who fail to implement a print security strategy are at risk of serious compliance violations when sensitive documents are allowed to languish unattended in print trays. Policies that require users to be present at the device before printing can help mitigate this risk.
Don't put your company's sensitive information at risk. Contact us at Advanced Office for a print security check-up today!
