How Cloud Print Management can improve your security posture

Defending against evolving security threats has always been a hot topic for IT, and as cyber- attacks continue to become more sophisticated, now is definitely not the time to take your foot off the gas.

With IT teams struggling to keep up with an ever-expanding threat landscape, it’s understandable that sometimes things slip down the priority list. But while it’s inconceivable that a company would ever allow an unprotected computer onto their network, the same can’t always be said for printers. Printers and MFPs are endpoint devices just like any other and if left unconfigured and unsecured, they can provide a convenient backdoor for hackers.

Printers are easy prey for hackers

Printers are easy prey for hackers. As a case in point, just three months ago (October 2022), cybersecurity experts at Cybernews hijacked close to 28,000 unsecured printers worldwide. The attack, which forced them to print out a guide on printer security, raised awareness of printer security issues.

And let’s not forget PrintNightmare, a vulnerability that exposed millions of users to security risks and left them unable to print. Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday ‘fix’ very quickly turned into an AdminNightmare, as it broke network printing for many, and saw IT admins disabling security or removing the patch to get it working.

Migrate print securely in the cloud

There is one easy way to seriously strengthen your print security posture and that is to migrate print to the cloud.

A serverless print infrastructure offers a number of security benefits over traditional print environments. One of the key advantages of a cloud-based print infrastructure is that it makes expensive on-premise print servers redundant, removing the requirement for IT to manage a constant stream of security updates to fix vulnerabilities, as well as deal with bandwidth and latency issues.

Secure printing for remote users

What’s more, balancing demand from end-users to print remotely from a mix of devices and outside of the corporate network, while ensuring the print environment is safe and secure, is much easier with cloud-based print management.

The directprint.io SaaS print management platform is built with security in mind, which also makes it a natural fit for zero trust strategies. Companies can mix Edge Print and Local Network Printing to find a balance that works for them. Printers remain on a secure network and cannot be exposed to vulnerabilities that are common with personal devices and home networks, and remote print jobs remain within an organization’s already approved Google Workspace or Microsoft Azure infrastructure, ensuring that sensitive business information remains confidential.

Importantly, Edge Print also gives IT admins fine-grained control over which printers are available for remote printing and provides full visibility of printers outside of the corporate network.

Visibility and control

One of the biggest security concerns with traditional print environments is a lack of visibility and control over print devices, especially when spread across multiple locations, which can make it difficult to manage and secure them. With a cloud-based print infrastructure, all print devices are connected to a centralized platform, which allows for easy monitoring and management of all devices from a single pane of glass.

Secure access to print devices and data

A cloud-based print management solution also allows for secure user authentication and access control, which ensures that only authorized users can access print devices and data. This can be especially important in regulated industries where data security is a major concern.

directprint.io ensures security posture and compliance by keeping all print jobs securely on the customer’s local network. Features like Secure Print allow IT admins to apply print policies to groups, individuals, and specific devices for added security in the workplace and even identify unusual printer behaviour, while PIN protected printing release features put an end to unwanted data exposure. directprint.io also offers traceable insights into print behavior, empowering IT leads to spot and deal with potential problems before they have a chance to negatively impact the business.

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Improving your business security posture – how to find out more?

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