Keep Your Printers from Being a Vulnerability

Many businesses rely on multifunctional printers to get things done. Unfortunately, they can be  a gateway for hackers to infiltrate your business and steal its data and resources. It’s important for any organization to do what they can to protect their users and data so, in today’s blog, we’ll go through some of the things you need to know about protecting your networks from printer-based vulnerabilities. 

What Vulnerabilities Do Printers Present?

Let’s go through three of the ways that printers can present problems for your network security:

Default Passwords

Many of the printers that businesses use come with default passwords that will allow users to access the machines on a network. Like any other password-protected account, it’s important that any default password used be replaced with unique and complex passwords to mitigate any chance of it being infiltrated. Additionally, doing your best to configure printers with Active Directory authentication can go a long way toward controlling who can access the printers.

Lack of Security

Many times, printers are also a network terminal (especially for multi-function machines) and are susceptible to cyberattacks. If you don’t consider the data stored by these devices, it can be stolen and compromised. By setting up firewalls to protect your network from malicious attacks, you can limit the exposure your printers have, making your whole network more secure. 

Outdated Firmware

Like any other computing device, printers have their own software that if not updated periodically could result in open pathways of exploitation for opportunists. Fortunately, most applications used in printing have some type of automated updates that you can opt into. It’s one of the most important things you need to do to keep your printers safe.

Unsecured Print Jobs

Secure print release mechanisms are extremely important, particularly when handling confidential data. Without protections in place, any print job is a potential vulnerability. There are some simple solutions to this: Employing PIN codes, deploying ID cards, or adding additional encryption can add the extra security you need to protect your printers.

Printer-related cybercrime is a real problem that your organization has to confront. To learn more, or to speak to one of our IT experts about your business’ IT security, give us a call today at 301-740-9955.