Managed Print Services (MPS) continues to grow in demand among business large and small. While numerous reasons motivated these companies to embrace MPS—including lower costs, improved efficiency, and freeing up their staff to focus on other tasks—one that is particularly powerful these days is greater security for their organization’s information. Our connected, networked world makes working and collaboration much more convenient, but that convenience comes at a cost: the vulnerability of our data.
An often-ignored risk to our sensitive information is posed by our networked printers. Once connected to the internet, your office printer or copier has significant vulnerabilities that can be exploited by cybercriminals to harm your business. The consequences of these vulnerabilities range from copying the information within your print jobs, to denial-of-service attacks, to backdoors providing access to your network. Any of these outcomes would likely be costly to any business, but could end up being crippling for smaller companies. That’s why it’s imperative organizations of all sizes improve the security of their documents. Thankfully, MPS can help you do so.
Managed Print Services will upgrade printer and document security for your company through measures such as:
- Identifying security risks within your organization through a comprehensive assessment of your print environment
- Creating and implementing secure printer configuration guidelines
- Changing the default security settings of your printers, something far too many companies fail to do
- Limiting the number of people with access to your networked devices
- Requiring user authentication at printers via a PIN or ID card to prevent unauthorized access to printed documents
- Regularly updating the firmware on your devices to ensure they’re armed with the most up-to-date patches and security updates
- Replacing older devices with newer models that feature the latest, greatest security measures
- Wiping the hard drives in any of your devices clean at the end of their service duty for your organization
- And more
A company’s connected printers can expose it to unnecessary security risks, and no business can afford the costs of a data breach. From customer confidence, to the financial burden of replacing data, to regulatory compliance fines, to legal costs, there’s no shortage of impact from a cybersecurity incident. By securing your copiers and printers through Managed Print Services, you’ll mitigate these risks by eliminating vulnerabilities associated with your printer fleet. If you’d like to learn more about MPS or get started with a print assessment, contact Golden Gate Office Solutions today.
