Most people don't think about printing when they consider security breaches on the job. In fact, HP recently found that 56 percent of companies ignore printers in their endpoint security strategy. But with security breaches happening all over the office, both relating to physical and logical security, thinking of printer risks is a must-do for a complete security strategy.
So you're at the office for what seems to be a regular, run-of-the-mill day. You sit down to your computer, use your employee badge to authenticate access to your work station, and the login to your email to check-in on your assignments for the day. You print a few emails to your unsecured printer in the hallway and then run into a quick half-hour staff meeting. Afterwards, you remember your email, collect it at the printer and head back to your desk. Little do you know, you encountered many of the leading printer risks while running through your daily activities. Not sure how? Let's take a look:
Document Theft
While in your staff meeting, your documents were left unsecured on the printer. Without authentication at the source, these documents, which may contain confidential information, were left for anyone to see, or collect.
Misplaced Documents
Because your print job did not require authentication to be released to print, your documents, as well as other documents on the printer are left in a big pile. Often times, employees can pick up another colleagues' documents by mistake, misplacing them, or even seeing information they were not authorized to see.
Unapproved changes to the settings
When you went to collect your documents from the printer, you leaned up against the printer and changed the settings from double-side print to single-side print. Because the settings could be changed without authentication, this mistake will cost your company extra paper and toner.
Eliminating Risks with Authentication
Adding an authentication solution to your printer can help. Imagine if your printing started the same way your computer access does – with a quick swipe of a badge to authenticate? Let's face it, we need passwords to access our computers, badges to access buildings, why shouldn't we have authentication to access printer documents?
The benefits of RFID authentication are simple. Increased security results in increased protection to your documents. Furthermore, secure print solutions that incorporate a print management solution can help with cost management, including paper and toner supplies.
RF IDeas offers RFID readers to help secure your printing environment. For more information about our product, visit our Secure Print website, or our Knowledge Center.
