Today’s smart printers must be protected like any other endpoint in your organization – because most printers today are multi-function devices with onboard storage and are part of your office network, threat actors see them as a prime target.

If you’ve not thought to include your printing infrastructure as part of your overall security strategy, now’s the time – and your managed service provider can help.

Believe or not, your printer is one the most vulnerable endpoints on your network, and a hacked printer will at the very least inconvenience your users and possibly threaten your entire business. In the same way that an employee smartphone or remote worker’s laptop is a gateway to mission critical systems and information on your enterprise network, your fleet of printers represent computing endpoints that can be hacked.

Just as people used to send funny jokes via fax machines, networked printers are now the target of pranks, with hackers infiltrating through open printer ports to execute bogus test page with messages on them to let the organization they’ve been breached. More extreme examples involve hackers using unsecured printers to spew out ads and random documents no one your company wants – and wasting paper is the least of your worries.

If your networked printer gets hijacked, you should be as alarmed as if your laptop screen was suddenly filled with pop up ads. And just like your laptop – or smartphone – a printer is a great jumping off point for threat actors to sneak into your office network while your users are distracted by failed print jobs.

You may not even get any indication your printer has been compromised. Rather than bother with silly pranks, a serious hacker will use their access to move around your network until they find a way to do serious damage by stealing data or holding it hostage with ransomware. Before you realize it you’ve been compromised, it may be too late to prevent damage to your business and reputation.

But like any endpoint, a network printer can be secured by following protocols that prevent them from being accessed remotely or by unauthorized users. A managed service provider can help you audit and secure your printer fleet as part of a broader strategy to secure your IT infrastructure.