Today’s multifunction printers do a lot more than just print. They now offer a slew of capabilities—from fax to email and wireless networking—and each new function adds another opportunity for adversaries to exploit or for data to be inadvertently lost.
Research shows that printers are likely a common source of data loss among companies. A 2017 survey of 200 U.S. and European companies showed that more than half had experienced data loss incidents in the previous year linked to printers.[1]
Causes of printer-related data loss among survey respondents:
- Digitally intercepted print jobs (50 percent)
- Data lost from printer hard disks (48 percent)
- Documents mailed to external sources via printers (44 percent)
- Printers hacked to gain network access (18 percent)