It’s great to be able to plan for the future, especially when it comes to cybersecurity! Print security can be a real challenge, so it’s smart to have a strategy in place for your print environment in 2023. Multi-function printers (MFPs) can be incredibly useful for businesses, but they can also open up some potential security vulnerabilities. That’s why it’s important to think about both digital document security and device security, so you can ensure your print environment is as safe as possible.
A secure print strategy should consider the risks associated with printing documents, as well as the risks posed by those using the printer and managing the documents printed.
Taking the necessary steps to reduce these risks is essential to ensure the security of the documents being printed. This could include implementing measures such as user authentication and access control, document encryption, and secure storage of documents. By taking these steps, organizations can ensure that their documents are secure and that their users are protected.
Balancing Security and Usability
It’s a tricky balance – on the one hand, organizations need to be secure and protected from cyber attacks and data breaches, but on the other hand, making sure these protective barriers are in place can be difficult and frustrating for end users. It’s understandable that users may feel overwhelmed and frustrated when they have to go through multiple steps to log in to the systems they need – especially in healthcare, where care providers log in an average of 70 times per day. It’s important to make sure that security measures are in place, but it’s also important to ensure that users don’t feel like their productivity is being hindered by too many obstacles.
It’s great that organizations like ecoprintQ are providing solutions for unified access and authentication that ensure secure, streamlined access to on-premises and cloud-based systems and applications. This is especially important in today’s world, where many of us are working from home or other remote locations and need to access our systems and applications from any device. Having a secure and efficient way to access all of our data is essential for productivity and success.
Regularly monitor your printer’s paper output and printing area
One great measure to employ is to regularly monitor your printer’s paper output and printing area – it’s the easiest way to make sure your print environment is secure. Keeping the area free of clutter is essential to make sure confidential files don’t get lost or left out. It’s also important to have clearly marked bins and shredding devices for disposing of sensitive information – these are key elements for any print environment. Taking these steps is a great way to ensure your print environment is secure.
Incorporate a print solution with Secure print release
In a standard network printing environment, when a user prints from an application, the job is sent directly to the printer and starts printing immediately. However, in some environments it might be advantageous to place the job in a holding state prior to printing. This could be for a variety of reasons, such as secure printing, where jobs are only printed when the user arrives at the print area and confirms their identity, or approved printing, where jobs are held until they are approved by selected individuals. Additionally, authentication can be used through hold/release queues as a form of authentication in an unauthenticated environment, requiring users to authenticate prior to releasing their jobs. Print Management Solutions softwares such as PaperCut MF and PaperCut NG provide for many secure print release options that can help improve the security of your print deployment processes.
Ensure printers are included within the scope of penetration tests
Running penetration tests is a great way to keep your business secure and up-to-date on the latest security vulnerabilities. It’s important to be thorough when defining the scope of the test, so that all targets, boundaries, and depths of the assessment are taken into account. Doing an annual penetration test is a fantastic way to make sure you’re always aware of the security of your application. It’s a great way to stay on top of your security and make sure your business is safe and secure.
Educate users to ensure documents remain secure
Educating users is one of the best ways to ensure that sensitive information is kept secure, especially in legal, medical, and government settings. By making sure that your team is well-informed on secure printing practices, you can be sure that your data will be kept safe.
Protect data with nearly invisible re-authentication methods
Multi-factor authentication is a great way to improve security while still keeping access to the enterprise convenient. It’s a win-win situation, providing strong data protection with an extra layer of security, while also making the authentication process invisible and non-disruptive. With WaveID and other biometric products, users can simply tap a badge, swipe a fingerprint, or use push token capability to securely access on-premises, remote, and cloud-based systems and applications from any device. This is a fantastic solution that allows organizations to benefit from both security and convenience.
Would you like to know more about how ecoprintQ can help you print more securely and efficiently? Click here to contact us or send us an e-mail at Sales@ecoprintQ.com.