Many companies vow that protecting their data centres, customers and workers is their top priority, yet don’t recognize the relevance of print security when setting up their IT security strategies. In actuality, printers are smart devices that can be used to gain access to the network and cause irreparable loss to a business. These endpoints are still advanced enough to expose not only the device, but also your entire network. And of the millions of business printers around the world, less than 2 per cent of them are secure. It’s time for small and medium businesses to rethink their current endpoint protection solutions and strategies to protect against modern attacks and breaches.
Print Security
Protecting a Central Endpoint
The print landscape has rapidly transformed in the last decade. Amidst the proliferation of the Internet of Things (IoT), mobile, cloud and the growing cybersecurity threat landscape, IT professionals must brace themselves for a bumpy road ahead and ensure their endpoint security strategies comply with the current trends that are here to stay. It is only when organizations adopt a security policy for the entire printer fleet that they can stand a chance against unauthorized access and safeguard the ever-increasing volumes of valuable corporate data.
Enterprise printing security faces several ongoing challenges, like improving internal IT controls, compliance issues and ensuring the safety of IT environments that are spread over various geographic locations. Building a robust security plan and an integrated approach to endpoints can help avoid a loss of revenue and a damaged reputation – and isn’t an option but a must for corporations looking to stay alive in a competitive market. Cyber criminals are also getting more sophisticated, have more funding and are a danger to all endpoints – especially the network printer that is a common entry point for malware and other attacks and can result in compromising sensitive data.
The business and IT advisory company Quocirca, in a recent research study, illustrate how organizations that have conducted a security assessment and have implemented secure printing solutions are less likely to have suffered data breaches as a result of unsecured printing – as opposed to 70 per cent of companies that suffered at least one data breach because of unsecured printing.
HP Secure Managed Print Services provides advanced protection with built in anti-malware software and helps customers protect their print environment with custom solutions so they can better protect their devices, data and documents.
IDC conducted a survey of 150 IT security specialists at large organizations in Canada to explore print security trends. To evaluate enterprise IT endpoint security strategies for a safer printing environment, download this report.
