Is Your Office Equipment Secure?

Are you taking as much time to secure your printers and MFPs as you are to protect your servers and email portals from hackers? If not, you should be. Nearly 90 percent of companies have experienced a breach of some kind, and oftentimes those breaches have been traced back to imaging equipment. Networked imaging devices pose a threat to your business if left unsecured. That’s mostly due to the fact that these devices are designed to capture and save images of your documents, leaving your business data vulnerable if left unsecure. Every document your business produces—from W-2s to client invoices to meeting minutes—is at risk of being hacked if you neglect to secure your office equipment.

Here are a few security tips that will help prevent breaches to your imaging equipment.

Use Pin Codes – Many printers and multifunction devices feature a PIN code option, where users are required to manually enter a four-digit code at the device before documents will print. This security feature ensures the correct output recipient alone has access to sensitive documents, helping to keep confidential data such as social security numbers out of the hands of inappropriate users.

Use Encrypted Connections – Make sure you use an encrypted connection when accessing your printer’s admin control panel so that your confidential captures aren’t easily intercepted by hackers. If you don’t secure access to your printer’s admin, hackers can take over your printer’s controls by inputting a simple password. Oftentimes the easiest way to avoid this from happening is to ensure you change each device’s password as soon as they are installed.

Update Firmware and Drivers – We typically associate updates to firmware and drivers as a means to increase the functionality of machines. However, these updates include patches that also fix any security loopholes and improve the overall security of your device. So, never wait to update firmware and drivers of your machines to ensure your device security is at peak performance.

Upgrade to Managed Print Services (MPS) – Working with an outsourced vendor to manage your print infrastructure means the security of your fleet will be left to the experts. Custom security solutions that meet your business needs will be applied, and your devices will be monitored for you, taking the guesswork out of securing your fleet.

Contact Golden Gate Office Solutions today to learn more about securing your print infrastructure.