Print.IT Reseller - issue 61

01732 759725 VOX POP 44 ...continued could result in potential compliance penalties and financial loss. At this stage, it really is too little, too late and the damage has already been done.” Jason Cort: “Anything that exposes the potential vulnerabilities of networked devices helps to raise awareness of the issue. The PewDiePie attack was an unusual breach as the hackers made no direct threats or demands to those who received the print outs, but instead told recipients that they should consider updating their printer’s privacy settings. We can only hope that this comparatively light-hearted hack made organisations ask the question: how secure are we really? “Asking this question is the first step toward ensuring print security gets pushed higher up the boardroom agenda. With the introduction of GDPR a couple of years ago, businesses were forced to assess all aspects of their data security – including those associated with printed materials and networked devices. It’s important that we continue to prioritise these issues to ensure our businesses are resilient and prepared for future security incidents.” James Turner: “With stories of similar hacks (related to printers on public ports) happening fairly regularly now and with the implementation of regulation such as GDPR, I would assume that the topic has begun to go further up, into the boardroom agenda. Security as a whole is certainly the boardroom topic of the moment, but risk factors present in the print estate aren’t given the same focus as say malware attacks and this is where some organisations are putting themselves at risk. Every touch point that could be a potential security risk should be given the same attention.” Tony Lomax: “The PewDiePie hack is a good example of how a person external to your business can take advantage of your unsecured printing network. If left unsecured, malicious users can potentially gain access to confidential information available on businesses’ printing networks. It’s important for organisations to be aware that this needs to be an additional concern when making sure their IT infrastructure is protected against things like hacks or cyber-attacks.” Aaron Anderson: “The PewDiePie hacks exploited the existing gaps in software security and open ports. They affected tens of thousands of machines worldwide, highlighting that far more remains to be done to prevent potential risks becoming reality. However, since the PewDiePie IoT hacks, the number of vulnerable printers globally dropped by almost 50 per cent, so it definitely served to reinstate print security as a top priority. “It also brought to light the importance for printers to be encrypted as a means to safeguard against the loss of personal data. Encryption is one of the key technologies highlighted within GDPR, so it is imperative that data stored on printers be encrypted to limit the impact of a breach. “In any organisation, there are multiple entry and exit points from which data can flow and the printer is one of these. Whether the data is in the form of e-documents or traditional paper formats, it is important to have a clear knowledge of the risks and an understanding of what data is being held in the printer. Something businesses can do right now, to save themselves a lot of time and stress later, is conduct a thorough audit of all existing data practices, policies and equipment within their organisation.” Dave Weston: “It has highlighted the risks and brought the issue up the agenda. However, it is important to point out that when it comes to security, printing solutions providers are reliant on the firewalls and the network infrastructure of the end-user. OKI printers are compatible with various network protocols such as https, for example. If organisations are running those protocols within their network, we can discuss with the customers how we can assist in helping overcome concerns such as this. However, if they are not, then the network will be open to risk including hacks (regardless of whether the printer is present or not). “In summary, as long as the end-user organisation’s infrastructure is as tight as possible, then OKI’s printers will work with that infrastructure securely.” Aaron Anderson When it comes to security, printing solutions providers are reliant on the firewalls and the network infrastructure of the end-user. Dave Weston