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Equip your business with the most secure multi-function printers

Running a business in this modern era means taking into account that cybercriminals could, at some point, target your business’s IT infrastructure for their own gain.

Common sense dictates that every end-point in your business should therefore be protected – including your printers.

These days a printer contains a CPU, memory, storage capacity, and connectivity – essentially, all of the components you would find in a PC. Cybercriminals know this, and are using unsecured printers as a launching point into business networks.

HP has responded to this worrying trend by ensuring that its latest range of A3 multi-function printers boast not only the latest in print technology, but security features as well.

Detect, protect and recover in real time

While cybercriminals can be stopped after they’ve broken in, doing so depends on how quickly their illicit activities can be detected. And that’s a problem, because many intrusions aren’t detected for weeks – sometimes even months – so it makes sense to stop attackers before they can even get in the door.

HP’s A3 multi-function printers can do just that thanks to a variety of built-in security mechanisms, like Sure Start. As the device is being switched on, the printer scans its BIOS to verify that it hasn’t been compromised. Should the printer detect anything out of the ordinary, the printer will restart using a “golden copy” of the BIOS stored on the device.

Beyond a BIOS that self-heals, HP FutureSmart firmware (which HP now includes in all of its printers) ensures that if criminals are able to get through the BIOS they have another hurdle to overcome. The firmware is the heart of the printer, and controls absolutely everything it does.

Under normal circumstances, should an attacker compromise the firmware on a printer they’re targeting, they’d have total control of it – including access to the network it’s attached to. Future Smart firmware prevents itself from being compromised by whitelisting the known-good HP code, and should any other code be loaded into the printer’s memory it will reboot in a secure, offline state. The printer will then notify the IT team that its secure, whitelisted firmware needs to be reloaded.

Secure at all times

While many firms wouldn’t leave their computers unguarded, the same cannot always be said for printers, and measures are needed to secure them at all times. HP’s run-time intrusion detection helps protect printers while they are in use and connected to the network. Run-time intrusion detection checks the printer regularly for anomalies, and, like it does with Future Smart, should it detect an intrusion the printer will automatically reboot to a secure state.

Printers have, until recently, been prime targets for cybercriminals, but HP knows this and has ensured all of its A3 multi-function printers are not only able to defend against intrusions, but form part of the frontline of any company’s cybersecurity solutions too.

  • You can find out more about the most secure printers at www8.hp.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

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