Maintaining IT security is a necessary evil for all businesses but many often don’t see their lowly MFP as a potential source of risk. The truth is, with greater connectivity, your multi-functional printer needs just as much care and consideration as any other piece of IT equipment used by your staff.

Many multi-function copiers now have quite large hard drives attached that can be used to store all sorts of data, including valuable company documents and images files, not to mention personal data. One of the problems is that, as with other devices, once the printer is switched off this data is still available on the drive. That means someone could remove the drive and access the information or retrieve valuable data when you sell the printer on or replace it with a new one.

It’s something that many MFP manufacturers and providers have been slow in getting to grips with over the last few years, but thankfully they are now starting to catch up. Data override and cleaning systems are now available on many new MFPs which makes it easier to protect your files and images when you save them to the hard drive.

The importance of having protection on all your devices

For all businesses the security of areas such as VPNs, firewalls, mobile and pc terminals all form part of a successful IT strategy. Many people don’t realise that their smartphone needs to have security software as much as their computer. The problem for offices is that most people will use their own phone to access something like a printer and there needs to be a strategy in place to ensure that all devices are covered.

A number of leasing companies now review your security along with your paper handling needs when they install a new MFP. However, it pays to regularly update your own procedures and make sure that everyone in the office knows what is expected.

For the average multi-function printer there are now a number of ways that security can be breached:

• Through accessing the hard drive, either by removing it from the printer or through a computer portal.
• Via the phone line attached to the MFP.
• Via the web server that is used to manage your MFP.
• By diverting data in transit to and from your MFP.

In addition, unprotected multi-function devices can be used to send things like malicious emails that can’t be traced back to the person who sent them. The truth is that anyone can launch an attack through your MFP if it is not protected adequately.

Not all MFPs are equal

As far as security is concerned, MFPs will vary on whether they are totally safe or not. It’s a good idea to have a review of your provision, especially if you are a large company that has a number of different devices. Older machines may not have the required software in place but also might not have hard drives that hold a lot of information. New ones should have good security measures in place but it is always wise to check with your provider to make sure.

There are around 30 million printers in the US and Western Europe alone and most of them are open to the online world – that means they are just as vulnerable to hackers and malware attacks as your PC or smartphone.