As we celebrate Cyber Security Month this October, it’s critical to focus on often-overlooked elements of a secure IT environment: printers and scanners. These devices, connected to company networks, can serve as entry points for cyber threats if not properly secured. The Mopria Alliance is committed to advancing secure printing and scanning practices across industries. To help protect your devices, we’ve gathered insights from Mopria Alliance members from Kyocera and Lexmark to share the best strategies for securing your printing and scanning infrastructure.
To enhance the security of your network printers and safeguard your organization’s data, follow these key strategies:
- Enable Full Data Encryption: Use robust encryption standards like AES-256 to protect data both in transit and at rest, ensuring documents sent to and from your printer are secure from interception and
unauthorized access. - Secure Print Jobs: Implement user authentication and secure print release features to prevent unauthorized access and ensure that only verified users can retrieve their documents.
- Regular Firmware Updates: Keep your printer’s firmware up to date to patch vulnerabilities and enhance security, protecting against newly discovered threats.
- Network Segmentation: Place printers on a separate network segment or VLAN to isolate them from critical network resources, reducing the risk of broader access if a printer is compromised.
-Dilinur Wushour, President at Kyocera Document Solutions Development America, Inc.
To enhance the security of printers, customers are encouraged to enable these key features in their environment:
- Most, if not all print manufacturers offer an encrypted print solution through the print driver. Encrypted print protects sensitive information as the print job is encrypted at the user’s workstation and decrypted on the network printdevice. This level of printing security is ideal for businesses managing highly confidential, personnel, and financial, medical, technical, and proprietary business information.
The local device PIN / confidential print feature addresses the basic concern of printed pages left on the device for anyone to pick up. With PIN / Confidential Print, the device securely holds submitted jobs until the intended recipient is present and enters the proper PIN code on the device’s control panel.- A print-release solution holds all documents in a print queue until their owners release them. Depending on your organizational policies and security risk profile, the queue can be hosted on-premise or in
- the cloud, which offers more features and benefits. Documents can be released from any enrolled device, anywhere. To release held documents, users are required to either swipe an ID badge or type their
- credentials on the device.
-Eric McCann, Manager, Technology Portfolio Architect at Lexmark
In addition to following these best practices for secure printing, Mopria certified printers come equipped with advanced security features accessible from the Mopria Print Service app to protect your printing environment. For example, administrators can require users to enter a PIN before printing, ensuring sensitive documents aren’t printed without authorization. SSL encryption ensures that all data sent to the printer remains secure, while user and account ID tracking allows administrators to audit printing behaviors for accountability. Learn more about Mopria for secure and seamless printing here.
At the Mopria Alliance, we believe that security is a shared responsibility across all devices within the network. Printers and scanners, when left unprotected, can become vulnerable entry points for hackers. By implementing the practices shared by our members, you can strengthen your cybersecurity posture and safeguard sensitive data. Stay proactive during Cyber Security Month and beyond by ensuring your devices meet the latest security standards.
