Protecting Your Printer Doesn't Have to Be Hard

April 21, 2020 | Advanced Office

The security of your computer network doesn't stop with your computers. In every office, there are printers doing important work. Those printers have hard drives, making them just as much a target of cyberthieves as the company's computers. However, there are ways to keep printers more secure to keep data private and compliant.

Updating the Fleet

If you have old printers in your printer fleet, they aren't the savings that they may seem. In fact, they could cost your company quite a bit. Older printers do not have the same level of security as the latest printers. They may not have encryption for the data that is streamed to and from them. This leaves that data open to being stolen by cyberthieves. Older printers are also less efficient, making them more expensive to run. If data is stolen from the printer, it can cause hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix the problem.

Encryption

Perhaps the best security for printers is end-to-end encryption. This keeps the data stream encoded from the point it begins all the way to the printer. If cyberthieves are to try to steal the data stream, they would receive only encrypted files that do them no good. Make sure that the printers you buy for your fleet have high-quality encryption to keep your data safe. Be sure to enable encryption when you first set up a new printer. If there are updates for the printer, make sure to install them right away.

Look for Open Ports

Having open ports in your network supplies the perfect place for hackers to get into your data. Your network should therefore be searched for any open ports. Leaving them open allows thieves to get into the printer's hard drive and to access any documents that had been stored there. And once they get in through the printer, thieves can access the computers and other devices in the network. Closing those ports is an important way to keep data secure and to protect the entire network.

If your print security could be better, contact us today to find out how we can help.