HP Makes Sure Hackers Can’t Find Their Way in Via Print

HP has launched a campaign to raise awareness of the secure capabilities of its printers, warning that hackers continue to find some novel ways to break into networks. In one infamous incident, a US the retailer’s network was compromised after login credentials were stolen from a heating, ventilation and air conditioning contractor.

According to HP, 64% of IT managers believe their printers are likely to be infected with malware¹, 73% of chief information and security officers expect a major security breach within a year², and the average cost of a data breach is $3.8 million³.

Wireless connections are often used as a potential route onto a network and with the growing use of WiFi to connect printers and MFPs, this is an increasingly popular hacking technique.

With the security features on its LaserJet line, HP provides comprehensive protection from all manner of attacks. They provide key technologies designed to thwart attacks and trigger a reboot in the event of an attack or anomaly.

After a reboot occurs, HP JetAdvantage Security Manager automatically assesses and, if necessary, remediates device security settings to comply with pre-established company policies. There’s no need for IT administrators to intervene. HP Sure Start validates the integrity of the BIOS at every boot cycle and if a compromised version is discovered, restarts the device using a safe, ‘golden copy’ of the BIOS.

White-listing helps to ensure only authentic, known-good HP code that has not been tampered with is loaded into memory. If an anomaly is detected, the device reboots to a secure, offline state. It then sends a notice to IT to reload the firmware. And run-time intrusion detection helps protect devices while they are operational and connected to the network—which is when most attacks happen

HP really does offer the most secure print solutions on the LaserJet range and that’s something well worth emphasising to you customers. Security is a serious issue for all businesses and public sector organisations now and printers that are connected to the network – and especially those providing access to print resources for mobile and remote users – could inadvertently provide hackers with a back door into the network. It’s simple common sense to make sure that all your shared printers are as rock solid and secure as they can be.

1 Ponemon Institute, Annual Global IT Security Benchmark Tracking Study, March 2015.

2 Help Net Security, Why enterprise security priorities don’t address the most serious threats, July 2015.

3 Ponemon Institute, 2015 Global Cost of a Data Breach Study, May 2015.