Did you know that hackers often start their attacks by looking for undefended printers? This is because so many companies tend to overlook their printers, leaving themselves vulnerable to all kinds of trouble. Luckily, there are a few simple things you can do to boost document security and protect your network printers.
Why Protecting Printers is Important
Network printers are, by definition, connected to your network--which means they can act as a sort of gateway to everything else connected to your network. If a hacker gained access to one of your printers, it wouldn't take them very long to reach your computers, mobile devices, and sensitive data. Because of this, it's important to protect network printers--and all printers--with as much vigilance as possible in order to avoid costly and frustrating security breaches. It's a small but important part of the much larger document security puzzle, but just by understanding the risks, you're well on your way to safer workflows.
Getting Started
The good news is that it's easy to get started protecting your network printer. Let's look at a few simple tips that can immediately boost document security!
- Always update.
This is a simple but crucial habit to get into: always do the updates! Updates protect your machines from software vulnerabilities that could let hackers right into your network.
- Change defaults.
Network printers sometimes come with default passwords and settings that make it easy for hackers to gain access. Make sure to change all of these settings on each machine.
- Use security tools.
You have all kinds of tools at your disposal, from user authentication to data encryption. Take advantage of every solution you can--that way, your printers have multiple layers of protection.
Document security starts at the printer. For more tips and tricks like these, contact us today!
