Copiers
Copiers
” Copiers “
The CBS Evening news recently broadcast a story called “Copy Machines a Security Risk?” The information presented in the story was alarming to say the least but CBS only scratched the surface of the topic. For companies who rely on securing confidential and proprietary information from competitors or hackers, there’s much more you need to know about the inconspicuous digital copier. In this article we’ll look at five areas where confidential information may be compromised.
If you haven’t seen the CBS story please click on this link at the bottom of this page and view the five minute broadcast before you continue with this article.
In addition to the risks presented by the CBS story here are 5 additional areas where copiers can compromise your security.
1. Many digital copiers are also network printers that store network information such as IP addresses, subnet masks and gateway IP’s. These settings are not stored on the hard drive and are not cleared by the digital copier “Purge” feature. Network settings must be manually cleared. Security experts will tell you to keep your network configuration private. You don’t want competitors or hackers to know your internal network configuration. The more information about your network infrastructure that’s accessible to hackers the less they have to figure out on their own and the sooner they can compromise your network.
2. Many digital copiers store the IP addresses of your DNS servers and/or Domain controllers. Depending on the type and model of your copier, this information may not be cleared by your copier “purge” function. You definitely don’t want competitors or hackers knowing the IP addresses of your Name Servers or Domain Controllers.
