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01732 759725 22 BUSINESS BRIEFING Cutting-edge security features go beyond the printer to encompass the cartridge itself. By George Brasher, SVP & Managing Director, HP UK & Ireland Office Printer Security, Starting with the Cartridge security strategies to protect resellers and customers. Of course, wherever there are printers, there are printer cartridges. As with all other components of your office infrastructure, you want to know and trust what cartridges go into your printer. Counterfeit or imitation cartridges come with many risks. Counterfeiters make and market fake printing supplies intended to deceive customers. These illegal cartridges masquerading as HP Originals cost the industry billions of dollars each year, undermine trust in the market and may fund other kinds of criminal activity. To minimise that risk, HP’s office printing security features go beyond the print hardware and extend to the cartridge itself. We’ve made significant investments in ink and toner cartridge research and development to help protect customers. Indeed, our office- class Original HP printer cartridges take security into account throughout the design, supply chain and production process to help keep the printers running efficiently 1 . Security from Every Angle We truly believe office printing system security must be built in – not bolted on. It can’t be something you do after the fact. That’s a recipe for failure. While the industry has become sophisticated at spotting and blocking software-based intrusions, the same can’t be said for hardware. In fact, it is well understood in the IT industry that counterfeit hardware can become the source of hardware-based exploitation 2 . HP Supply Chain Security HP is vigilant about recognising and mitigating security risks in the supply chain to help reduce the risk of malicious code entering the office cartridge chip. We carefully manage internal supply chains, working with partners who follow industry best practices on security as well as partnering with security experts. HP office printer cartridge chips are manufactured in secure facilities and are manufactured in facilities where products have achieved EAL5+ certification. HP was one of the first tech companies to include holographic security labels – complete with verifiable QR codes – on cartridges, which has helped to crack down on fakes. Made with advanced printing techniques, the labels function much like the security marks found on currency. Digital tracking through the supply chain for many office cartridges provides end-to-end supply chain validation for resellers and end users. These Original HP cartridges can be tracked from the factory to printer and checked throughout that journey. HP Office Cartridge Chip Security Only Original HP cartridges contain a chip with HP proprietary firmware that is designed to be secure and resistant to tampering. Non-HP supplies include chips of unknown origin that may employ untrusted firmware. Given that there is a data interface from the chip to the printer, an attacker with the right skills and resources may be able to uncover and exploit a vulnerability, taking advantage of this interface to inject malicious code. Cartridge chips help protect your printer with secure smart card technology that is commonly found on chip-based credit and debit cards. All Original HP office printer cartridges introduced In our increasingly connected world, any network device can become an avenue of attack for hackers. And if we’re going to enjoy the many benefits and conveniences of the Internet of Things, we must commit to securing every “thing” we connect. Servers and client PCs top the list, but network printers may also be vulnerable to attack. Why? Because they’re less likely to be thought of as needing protection. Over the past few years, we have seen a rise in attacks on embedded system technologies, which are often shared across connected devices. The risk includes PC firmware/BIOS as well as printer firmware. Cyberattacks are rapidly increasing in sophistication, and because of this, HP is hyper-focused on printer security, especially in the office environment, and on improving our George Brasher George Brasher