These days, Printer is not the box in the corner of the office, which is harmless and doesn’t need more attention than normal wear and tear repair. In this 21^st century, Printers and Multifunction printers (MFPs) are most vulnerable to the cyberattack and can be the cause of the breach of a very sensitive information. Most companies are cognizant of the fact that they need to secure themselves from the cyberattacks and hacks, but they generally forget to include their printers and multifunction printers in this purview and for some the concept of print security is vague.

According to PwC 90% of large and 74% of small UK organisations reported suffering a data breach in 2015, while a 2016 study from the Ponemon Institute reveals the average total cost of a breach to be $3 million, with the average cost per stolen record $158. According to QuoCirca’s survery, about 61% of the large enterprises admitted suffering from data breaches because of the insecure printing.

As Gartner reports, “Print devices were some of the first IoT devices on the enterprise network, yet customer awareness of print security risks is lagging.” We will try to collate all the important points which an organization should be aware of for better print security.

1. Printers should not be forgotten and should also be included in companies’ security policies.
2. Invest in authentic and good printer security, plus integrate your whole printer fleet under this security option including all brands.
3. MultiFunction Printers (MFPs) need secure access to the network as they can be the entry points to the IoT networks. As Gartner reports, “Print devices were some of the first IoT devices on the enterprise network, yet customer awareness of print security risks is lagging.”
4. Monitor the Printer users and usage to ensure compliance and to trace unauthorised access by using MFP audit log data or third-party tools, which provides full audit trail
5. Instead of waiting for the breach to happen to know the status of your print security, conduct vulnerability assessment on regular interval and seek expert guidance.
6. Follow a good security model for your print security, The Gartner report suggests your security model include:
   1. “Features that harden devices
   2. Encrypting data in motion and at rest
   3. Securing and controlling access
   4. Securing paper trays and paper output
   5. Providing detailed, auditable logs for forensic activity analysis”
7. Follow the new trends in print security market and keep looking for vendors with innovative solutions in the print security market e.g. HP printers incorporate interruption recognition frameworks to alarm security groups when somebody is messing with gadget settings, and the gadgets can check the framework to guarantee just approved firmware is running when it boots up.

To know more about the printer security market, visit our Print Security market page within  Product comparison platform to get more information on these markets.