Secure Printing and Scanning

Security considerations when reviewing

your Print & Scanning Infrastructure.

When considering cyber security, most organisations will review their firewall, their workstation and laptop virus protection, HDD encryption and staff training. What few organisations do is review the security of their print and scanning equipment.

The modern-day Multifunctional Printer  (MFP) is a workstation as it has an HDD , Ram cpu and an operating system . It has an IP address and is integrated it the network like any other work station. But unlike other workstations on the network it is accessed by multiple users without the requirement of a login.

This gives the organisation no way of knowing who has done what on the machine if there has been a data breach. There are a number of things worth considering to help improve your security: 

 

Restrict Access to MFP to authorised personnel only

Lock down access to your device either through ID mode which is available on most models or choose the Universal Login of uniFLOW Express that comes free on all Canon Imagerunner advanced devices available from Intuity Technologies. This will not only lock down your device but also track usage, by user, of  all copying, printing and scanning activities. You can also facilitate  a LOGIN by fob or access card for faster and contactless login.

 

Remove the chances of documents being left on the exit tray

You can set secure print queue as default. This ensures no prints are left uncollected on the exit tray of the printer where valuable data may be visible to passers by.

 

Erase Data on the HDD of your machine.

All files printed to your MFP are spooled on to the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) of the device and remain there until overwritten. Even if you have chosen to delete the file, it is only renamed and remains on the HDD until overwritten by another file.  An HDD Erase kit ensures print file information is automatically overwritten with white noise after the file is printed ensuring no data breach risk from the copier printer HDD

 

Protection of documents scanned directly from your MFP

Scanning from your MFP carries additional risk especially when you scan beyond your network’s security to the internet via email. Your MFP should have the ability to encrypt files, scan and send over the internet securely until they reach their destination where they can be decrypted by the intended receiver.

 

Audit trail

It is important in the case of a data breach to have an audit trail of activity on you MFP. Can you retrieve user data from your device? This may be possible by machine job logs or by employing a system like uniFLOW online which will allow you view user job logs  via your own portal. It is important to download these logs at regular intervals as a csv or excel sheet and store them as part of your GDPR compliance policy for reference in the instance of a data breach.

 

Anti-Virus

Does your machine have anti-virus? All new Imagerunner advanced devices supplied by Intuity Technologies have MacAfee Anti-virus protection loaded as standard.

 

SIEM integration

Do you have  Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) technology deployed in your business or as part of your managed support service? If so, does you MFP allow its incident logs to report into this system as part of you overall network security live overview?  If you have any concerns around security with print and imaging, please contact one of our Managed Print Services consultants and they will be happy to advise you on this.

 

To speak with one of our team about the security of your print and scanning network, email: sales@intuity.ie today.

If you would like to assess what printing infrastructure you have and what features you can avail of  then don’t hesitate to get in touch.  You can get a quick quote here or call us today on 0818 987 900!