Ordinary internet users like you and me are bombarded daily with warnings from the government and private sectors to secure our computers, phones, and tablets to have a safe online experience. Because of the dangers lurking around the Internet, we are also constantly reminded to check our online activities and protect our privacy and security.
The warnings have helped people, making them aware of the need to secure the device they use to connect to the Internet, that's their laptops, phones, desktops, and tablets.
Ordinary users have become conscious of the dangers waiting for them online, learned how to secure their connections, and stopped cybercriminals from attacking them. However, some companies have failed to secure their systems and caused user data leaks.
Even with all these warnings, we can still hear the news that hackers are successful in breaching the security of big companies. It seems that cybercriminals could plant malware and activate ransomware at will exposing the personal data of users.
The attacks have become possible because cybercriminals are taking advantage of vulnerabilities in the Internet of Things (IoT) devices. These devices connect to the Internet, including light switches, speakers, printers, and a lot more.
While the Information Technology (IT) department never fails to remind users to secure their devices and regularly update routers and servers. Networked printers, one of the most common devices in the office, are just left alone.
When the IT department assesses potential cyber security issues, the printer is not the first thing that comes to mind. IT personnel would never suspect a printer could put a company in danger of being attacked. Security researchers, however, said that a whole network could be compromised with just a single unsecured printer.
I talked with Christian Angel, Manila Bulletin Data Security Officer, about this, and he confirmed that hackers could use printers to access the network. Using a networked printer, he demonstrated how a hacker could easily print anything and eventually access the network by exploiting the printer connected to the company's network. "If your printer is exposed on the Internet, hackers can exploit it and use it to launch cyberattacks. It can also serve as a foothold for hackers to move laterally through your network." Angel said.
The demonstration worried me as I noticed that we were using printers that do not offer security. That prompted me to search for printers that allow the IT department the flexibility to set up a print device against cybersecurity attacks.
I found that only HP Enterprise printers have embedded security features that self-heal from attacks, automatically triggering a reboot. Also called HP Sure Start, self-healing detects a compromised version of the BIOS during power-up. It will start a reboot process with a safe "golden copy" of the BIOS, eliminating any malware that cybercriminals injected into the printer.
Other security features that assure the integrity of your printer and security of your network include the following:
Whitelisting
This embedded feature ensures that the security of the printer is safe from hackers. This feature will check for original firmware that HP has digitally signed. Any sign of tampering reboots the printer to a secure state.
Run-time Intrusion Detection
Run-time intrusion detection (RTID) will help you protect your devices when powered on and connected to the network to detect any potential malware intrusion in your system memory. If unusual activity is detected, the printer will perform a memory-cleaning reboot.
HP Connection Inspector
HP Connection Inspector makes the printer start in a secure state. It checks the printer's outbound data for packets typically used by hackers. If any suspicious activity occurs, it will trigger a reboot automatically without any intervention from the IT department. Any suspicious data request triggers a self-healing reboot.
With many employees working from home and many kids still doing online learning, making our devices safe from cybercriminals is the best thing that we could do. However, we should not forget that personal devices are not the only way hackers could attack us. The printer, one of the most popular devices connected to the Internet, could also be exploited and used against us. So far, only HP offers printer security that could make our online experience more secure and safe. I have decided to update our printers with HP for a more secure network environment. I am now using the HP 750 series and recommended to other departments to upgrade. Other HP printers with embedded security include the 720 and 670 series.
For a more secure office and work-from-home setup, I also recommend for our employees use the HP Elitebook, HP Probook, and HP Prodesk laptops and computers. All these devices have embedded HP Enterprise security solutions that protect users from the Internet, bad guys.