Printer Security and Print Management for Business

Your Printer Is a Security Risk

Network printers and multifunction devices (MFDs) are full computers — they have processors, memory, storage, network interfaces, and operating systems. They store copies of documents that have been printed, scanned, or faxed. They connect to your network with the same level of access as a workstation. And in most SMEs, they receive almost no security attention.

An unsecured printer is a network entry point, a data leakage risk, and a compliance gap.

The Risks

Network access: A printer on your network has access to communicate with other devices. An attacker who compromises a printer can use it as a pivot point to access other systems on the network. Printers with default admin credentials (admin/admin or 1234) are trivially compromised.

Data storage: MFDs store copies of printed and scanned documents on internal hard drives. When a printer is decommissioned, returned at lease end, or serviced, that data can be accessed. Sensitive documents — client records, financial statements, HR documents — may be recoverable from a printer’s storage long after they were printed.

Unattended output: Documents printed to a shared printer sit in the output tray until someone collects them. Sensitive documents — payslips, legal correspondence, medical records — can be read by anyone who walks past.

Firmware vulnerabilities: Printer firmware is rarely updated. Known vulnerabilities remain unpatched for years, providing an easy target for attackers scanning your network.

Securing Your Printers

Change default credentials: Every printer should have a unique, strong admin password. This is the most basic security step and is overlooked in the majority of SMEs.

Update firmware: Check for and apply firmware updates regularly. Many business printers support automatic updates — enable this if available.

Disable unnecessary services: Printers often have services enabled by default that you do not need — FTP, Telnet, SNMP v1/v2 with default community strings, open web interfaces. Disable everything that is not required for your environment.

Network segmentation: Place printers on their own VLAN with access controls that limit communication to the print server and management systems only.

Enable encryption: Use encrypted printing protocols (IPP over TLS) and encrypt data stored on the printer’s hard drive. Most business-grade MFDs support hard drive encryption — enable it.

Secure decommissioning: When a printer is replaced, returned, or disposed of, ensure the internal hard drive is securely wiped or physically destroyed. This applies to leased equipment being returned to the vendor.

Secure Print Release

Secure print release (also called pull printing or follow-me printing) solves the unattended output problem. When a user sends a print job, it is held in a queue until the user authenticates at the printer — by tapping an ID card, entering a PIN, or scanning a QR code. Documents are only printed when the user is standing at the device to collect them.

This also reduces waste — jobs that are never collected (the “I printed it but forgot” problem) are automatically deleted after a timeout period.

Print Management

Print management software provides visibility and control over your printing environment. Track who is printing, what they are printing, and how much. Set quotas to reduce unnecessary printing. Route jobs to the most cost-effective device. Enforce double-sided printing as a default. For businesses spending thousands per month on printing, the cost savings from print management typically pay for the solution within months.

Managed Print Services

A managed print service handles your entire printing fleet — hardware, consumables, maintenance, and management — for a predictable monthly cost. This eliminates the unpredictable expenses of toner, parts, and service calls, and ensures your fleet is properly maintained and secured. Your MSP can often include print management as part of their service offering.

Review Your Print Security

If your printers still have default passwords and have never had a firmware update, they are a gap in your security posture. Contact TechAssist to secure and optimise your printing environment.