Print.IT Reseller - issue 87

01732 759725 42 VOX POP The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated SMBs’ pain points around security and data protection. Almost half (48 per cent) of IT decision-makers surveyed by Keypoint Intelligence on behalf of Konica Minolta, described security and data protection as being their number one IT challenges Let’s talk about security Mark Bailey, Managing Director, EBM Managed Services: “Honestly, yes. I think awareness is the issue. I don’t think end-users (often including a client’s IT department) give printers/photocopiers much thought at all until something goes wrong. These devices are such an established part of office infrastructure that they’re often overlooked. Cyber security is a hot topic for most businesses right now, but the photocopier that sits in the corner is seen as separate, even though it is not.” Steve Kendall-Smith, UK Managing Director, Lexmark: “Nowadays, with an increasing range and variety of external security threats – IT professionals can easily overlook the inside threat from poorly managed multifunction products, and any network connected devices from within their business. “IT Managers and Chief Information Security Officers need to guard against a wide range of threats to critical corporate data, including malware, ransomware, social engineering. However, there’s one area that often falls under the security radar, and it lies within even the most hardened network perimeters. Inadequately managed multifunction products attached to these networks pose a significant security threat – both from enterprising hackers and from inadvertent data leaks by employees. “We are however seeing an increased awareness of the threats posed by unsecure print networks as businesses realise the potential dangers associated with unsecure devices and the gaps that arise in network security as a result.” Clive Hamilton, Managing Director, Pinnacle: “I think a lot of companies tend to forget the threat from within when it comes to their printer fleet or scanning devices on the network. There are a number of ways that print security or the lack of it could affect business security or threats to intellectual property (data). “As most businesses are changing the way they work with more agile workers, hybrid office attendance, changing technology, moving infrastructure from internal on premise servers to cloud- driven services such as cloud printing, then it does open up more risks for potential security breaches. Most have no automated alert system to notify them of at-risk situations or have no automatic remediation of devices that are out of compliance.” Kerry Rush, Product Manager, Sharp UK: “At Sharp we reach out and conduct our own research. We carried out a survey with 5,500 office workers in SMBs and the findings highlighted a distinct lack of knowledge around print security. “Only 48 per cent knew that MFPs and printers could be hacked, 40 per cent had never received any formal advice or training on MFP/print security, and 15 per cent of respondents had downloaded and printed a document despite security warnings. “The modern IoT business has a number of potential areas within its infrastructure that, if weak, could be PrintIT Reseller: The print infrastructure is often overlooked by IT professionals and networked devices are frequently used without proper safeguards in place. Are businesses simply unaware of the security risks that printers pose? Cyber security is a hot topic for most businesses right now, but the photocopier that sits in the corner is seen as separate, even though it is not Steve Kendall-Smith Mark Bailey