The article discusses how to choose the best MPS for security in your business.
According to experts, printer security is the biggest differentiator when considering MPS, and that although businesses are strong in securing laptops, smartphones and tablets, printer security is often ignored, reported Search it Channel. The article noted that “over 70 percent of organisations have experienced a print-related data breach”, and that Quocirca, a print research and advisory firm, said that “over 75 percent indicated that print is critical or important to business activities”.
More companies are using MFP products, said Louella Fernandes, Quocirca’s Associate Director of Print Services and Solutions, which increase productivity and are cost-effective but need to be managed, as they can be a security risk. She stated that “the top concern around print security is the need to control confidential or sensitive information printed to shared printers. Notably, organisations using a managed print service [MPS] are most concerned, rating this on average 4.1 out of 5 compared to 3.1 for non-MPS users”.
The main reason businesses use an MPS provider, she added, is to cut down costs, although many say security is also important, and there is a rise from 75 percent to 85 percent who felt this about security, according to a 2016 Quocirca report. Brendan Morse, Senior Analyst for InfoTrends, added that “while printed pages retrieved by the wrong person or forgotten at the device is a very serious security issue found in many businesses, there are many threats many businesses do not give anywhere enough attention to”.
This is because MFPs have access to the internet, apps, email and “enterprise content management systems”, meaning they are more at risk of a security breach, and Morse added that “thus, any internal and intrusion risk applies to [MFPs] and printers. Given today’s landscape, this means the threats are constant and wide-ranging”.
Cindy Dwyer, Marketing for HP Inc’s Worldwide Print Security, agreed that printers are vulnerable, noting that “with the perimeter weakening, devices behind the firewall are becoming at risk for cybercrime. IT managers inherently know this but perceive that a printer hack would be fairly benign or simply malicious – such as being able to push a print-out without authorisation or take a printer down.
“In reality printers can be a source to exfiltrate company and customer data or acquire user credentials to gain further access to the network”. Morse noted that the financial industry is ahead of the security game and that most other business don’t “appreciate the magnitude of the threats” from the print environment.
He pointed out that “for example, InfoTrends research indicates that 95 percent of financial services firms say security is an important buying factor for MFPs and printers. But this number drops significantly in other industries and in smaller organisations”. He concluded that security risks need to be kept up with and said that “the good news is there is a relatively mature set of software and services offerings that are sufficient for most businesses.
“Managed print services providers are renewing their focus in this area because of these advantages”.