By John Leyden for The Register. This story has
been reproduced with permission.
A survey of 350 European business by ENISA discovered scant
awareness of the costs and risks of uncontrolled printing.
Printers churn out a multitude of sensitive business documents
ranging from invoices to employee and customer data, for example.
Sensitive documents are often carelessly discarded next to printer
or not even picked up. Just over half (53 per cent) of
organisations surveyed by ENISA use authentication (technologies
such as smart cards, biometric identification, or PIN codes) for
printing.
Photocopier and printers have evolved from simple,
single-function grey boxes to multifunctional, networked document
processing hubs. Modern printing devices keep digital copies of
scanned or printed documents. ENISA describes printing as the
"forgotten link" in the security chain.
Printers are becoming more and more like other computing devices
on a network. As the spread of the Code Red worm demonstrated,
modern networked printers can be affected by malware. Networked
printers can become a conduit for hacker attacks.
Andrea Pirotti, executive director of ENISA, commented:
"Business in Europe must realise that printing and copying is not
as safe as when Gutenberg started printing 540 years ago. Crucial
company assets and confidential data is at stake as even printers
can get hijacked."
ENISA's report details a set of advice on the secure printing
and copying of confidential data. Among the report's key
recommendations is that organisations develop a policy on who can
print or copy documents, which should be classified depending on
their level of sensitivity. The agency also advocates wider use of
authentication in printing and the location of printers in secure
areas.
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