Outdated printer firmware can leave organizations open to attack

In the past the printer has tended to be a pretty dumb device, but as they’ve gained more features and extra connectivity printers have become a target for attacks and potentially a way of gaining access to networks.

A new report from HP Wolf Security, based on global study of 800+ IT and security decision-makers (ITSDMs), highlighs the challenges of securing printer hardware and firmware.

Exploring four hardware lifecycle stages, the report reveals that during the ongoing management stage, just 36 percent of ITSDMs apply firmware updates promptly. This is despite IT teams spending 3.5 hours per printer per month managing hardware and firmware security issues. Failure to promptly apply firmware updates to printers unnecessarily exposes organizations to threats that could lead to damaging impacts, such as cybercriminals exfiltrating critical data or hijacking devices.

There are issues at other stages of the printer lifecycle too. At the supplier selection and onboarding stage only 38 percent of ITSDMs say procurement, IT, and security collaborate to define printer security standards -- with 60 percent warning that this lack of collaboration puts their organization at risk. 42 percent of ITSDMs fail to involve IT/security teams in vendor presentations, 54 percent fail to request technical documentation to validate security claims, and 55 percent fail to submit vendor responses to security teams for review. Once the printer arrives more than half (51 percent) of ITSDMs cannot confirm if the printer has been tampered with in the factory or in transit.

Once a printer is installed many organizations are struggling to keep on top of patching the devices. Only 35 percent of ITSDMs are able to identify vulnerable printers based on newly published hardware or firmware vulnerabilities, not to mention zero-day threats that areunknown to the vendor or the public. Only 34 percent can track unauthorized hardware changes made by users or support teams, and only 32 percent of ITSDMs can detect security events linked to hardware-level attacks. 70 percent of ITSDMs are increasingly worried about offline threats too, such as employees printing and mishandling sensitive company information.

And the problems don’t end when a printer reaches the end of its useful life either. 86 percent of ITSDMs say data security is a barrier to printer reuse, resale or recycling -- a big problem, given that on average ITSDMs report having approximately 80 printers that are redundant or are in the process of being decommissioned within their organizations. ITSDMs also lack confidence in current sanitization solutions, with 35 percent saying they are uncertain whether printers can be fully and safely wiped. Meanwhile, one-in-four believe it’s necessary to physically destroy printer storage drives, and one-in-10 insist on destroying both the device and its storage drives to ensure data security.

“Printers are no longer just harmless office fixtures -- they’re smart, connected devices storing sensitive data,” says Steve Inch, global senior print security strategist at HP. “With multi-year refresh cycles, unsecured printers create long-term vulnerabilities. If compromised, attackers can harvest confidential information for extortion or sale. The wrong choice can leave organizations blind to firmware attacks, tampering or intrusions, effectively laying out the welcome mat for attackers to access the wider network.”

You can get the full report, which also offers advice on securing printers effectively, from the HP site.

Image credit: svitlanahulko85.gmail.com / depositphotos