The role of print device security in reducing data breaches

Yahoo, LinkedIn and Snapchat are just three of the household names that have been hit by significant data breaches recently - a stark reminder for every business that such attacks are capable of outwitting even the largest of organisations.

It’s therefore no surprise that IT security regularly appears in the headlines, severely damaging the reputations of the companies that suffer breaches. Perhaps most surprising, however, is the regularity with which seemingly impenetrable organisations (given their tech backgrounds) are successfully targeted by cyber criminals.

The threat of data breaches will only increase as the world continues to rely more heavily on data, and with malware fast becoming democratised, businesses of all sizes need to be ready to fight their digital corner.

Thankfully, it appears many are already increasing their IT security budgets, which is unsurprising when you consider that the average data breach costs businesses $4 million. Despite this, there’s a strong chance network print devices aren’t receiving the attention they deserve during the budget review.

Assessing the security of networking print devices

The rise of cyber attacks has placed renewed focus on the security of servers, cloud services and the ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) phenomenon. But what about network printing?

In some businesses, thousands of employees will have access to large fleets of printers, MFPs and copiers, with every point of contact a potential point of entry for cyber crime. The consequences of data leakage and document theft from an insecure print infrastructure simply don’t bear thinking about.

As of 25th May 2018, under GDPR, a severe data breach could cost you as much as €20 million or 4% of global annual turnover (whichever is greater). (General Data Protection Regulation, Official Journal of the European Union)

Here’s how your business can scale secure print management across the organisation:

• Invest in secure devices. Do your printing devices offer features such as IPsec encryption, authentication, image overwrite and hard disk encryption? They should, which is why businesses must opt for hardware that is Common Criteria certified (as found with most Xerox devices).
  
  
• Establish a security policy. Clear, secure printing usage guidelines should be given to each employee, along with the installation of solutions such as pull printing, which demands that a user enter a pin number before releasing printed documents.
  
  
• Monitor the fleet, 24/7. This is the trickiest challenge to overcome, but one that must be met, because it’s vital that the security settings and policies tied to your print network remain in place constantly. To do so, you’ll need a solution that enables you to remotely monitor printer fleets, no matter their location.

The ability to reduce security risks that arise as the result of human negligence is desirable for every business, but that’s only possible if every corner of the organisation is thoroughly tested.

This is why organisations should proactively manage the security of their networked print devices and take remedial action over non-compliance through a dedicated security administrator.

Printing fleets are inherently insecure - unless the correct policies and systems are implemented. The business itself also needs a thorough understanding of the fleet so that it can put in place a solution that will monitor security compliance automatically and help in the fight against data breaches.