Contrary to popular belief, printers are not innocuous devices sitting in the corner of the office. In fact, a recent study by information security company, Quocirca, found that a whopping 63 percent of companies reported print-related data breaches. And this percentage only represents known cases. The research confirmed that printer security has never been more unstable and that organizations should quickly increase their printer and network security.
To make sure that sensitive information does not fall into the wrong hands, follow these effective ways to enhance your printer security. The best part is that you do not have to break the bank to implement these steps.
Control Access
The simplest way to effectively secure your printer and the data stored on it is to ensure that only authorized personnel can access and use the device. There are a number of ways to go about this. One is to keep the printer in a safe environment that limits its availability. Another good tip is to set a password for your device and make sure to only share that password with authorized personnel.
You also have to focus on controlling access to the printer’s data. Configuring the firewall of the network your printer is connected to ensures outsiders will not be able to gain access to your data. Secondly, make sure to encrypt print jobs to protect sensitive data while they are transiting from the computer to the printer in case they are intercepted. Also, remember to use encrypted storage while documents are waiting to be printed. Always get rid of any traces of printed files before leaving the printer.
Print Audit
Print auditing is a way of keeping track of a printer’s operations. With print auditing, you can easily check who is printing what and when. It is even possible to track printing actions for a specific printer based on a single user or department. Regardless of whether the job was completed or not, you have the ability to audit successful and failed actions. Business technology providers like Monster Technology can provide print auditing services to ensure your printer security.
Managed Print Services
Another way to enhance printer security is by using print management software through a Managed Print Services (MPS) provider. MPS enables businesses to centralize print jobs and reduce printing costs with tools that can monitor, regulate and maintain a whole printer network just from one user interface. Businesses that have to deal with invoicing on a daily basis, shipping, and huge databases especially benefit from MPS.
Apart from reducing wastage and operational costs, using print management software considerably reduces the chances of sensitive information falling into the wrong hands with follow me printing. This feature only releases documents from your fleet when users enter passwords or authenticate their credibility at the device itself.
Ready to start protecting your network with printer security? Get in touch with us at Monster Technology today!