The Importance of Securing Sensitive Documents at the MFP

Multifunction printers (MFPs) are getting a lot of attention in the security arena these days as they have become a common target for unscrupulous characters.

For the most obvious reason, MFPs can present a security threat simply because of the potential for confidential information to be left sitting on the output tray. However, today’s MFPs are much than output devices. The MFPs in most offices today are highly sophisticated devices with embedded web servers that offer the ability to connect directly to host applications and/or cloud-based services.

Considering this, MFPs present numerous opportunities for malicious hacks and data breaches. Fortunately, there are several solutions that you can take to prevent your sensitive data from becoming compromised:

Secure the MFP

There are several ways that you can increase security for your MFP, such as taking advantage of user authentication features such as passwords or swipe cards.

To create an audit trail to reduce the risk that documents could be emailed or faxed without approval, follow-me or pull printing practices could be enforced.

In addition, you could grant different levels of access to various users, which could help to reduce the risk of sensitive data from getting into the hands of the wrong person.

Secure Mobile Printing

With mobile technology being so prominent in the workplace, people want the ability to be able to print from smartphones and tablets. If you’re going to allow this in your workplace, it’s a good idea to limit who is allowed to print and on which devices. Additionally, mobile device users should be granted varying levels of access to MFPs to more effectively control data entering or leaving the network.

Secure the Hard Drive

MFPs have an internal storage device that often contains highly sensitive data. Aside from physical theft of this hard drive, another risk is hackers that can access this data through the network. In addition to utilizing user authentication features to help control access to the hard drive, encryption features can add another layer of security.

Secure the Network

The tremendous amount of sensitive data that travels between a network and an MFP make this device a prime target for hackers. As a best practice, MFPs should be behind a firewall and take advantage of SSL encryption.

Please contact us for more ways that you can secure the documents and highly sensitive data that pass through your MFP on a daily basis.