7 ways to protect your printer

There are many risks involved with your printer, particularly when you are networking. You often neglect to keep the printer secure. People have a tendency to secure their data and pay lot of attention with file servers providing encrypted access controlled storage. Workstations are also encrypted with password and even biometric access. What you do not realize is that when you print that confidential data or send it off to a printer, the printer may not be as secure as the remainder of your system. You can avoid the networking printer problems if you are careful with these steps. 1. Unplug If you want to avoid network printer problems, don’t network your printer. If you connect directly from a personal computer through a USB, your printer and your printing jobs can be kept confidential. 2. Password Networked printers can be accessed remotely with a password. You can always change the default password. This is the most important step of all for a networked printer. 3. Firmware When security issues are likely, printer makers release updates to its firmware. You can keep your printer firmware updated. By keeping your printer secure with a strong password and closing any known security holes with up-to-date firmware, you can take care of most basic network printer issues. 4. Secure Your Infrastructure Keeping passwords updated, installing the latest firmware and securing access are just a few of steps you can take through remote-management software. You should also use firewalls to protect against outside attacks and make sure that Wi-Fi networks are secured. 5. Secure Your Data When you send a print job, you have to be sure that it is on a secured network. You can use encryption so a print job can’t be intercepted along its path. 6. Secure Your Printers Beyond changing the default password, implementing access control can protect the printer from being accessed remotely. Printers with hard drives for spooling have to be encrypted. Once a job is printed, traces of it should be erased from the hard drive and from memory. 7. Secure Your Printouts If you generate secure documents with special paper, secure trays are available to protect the media. Avoid leaving documents sitting in a printer tray.