If your organization is set up like most, you have one central copier/printer/fax that is the department’s workhorse. It is something 10-25 people depend on every day to ensure the business moves along smoothly – printing marketing collateral, copying new employee information and faxing out statements to those who need it.
However, did you know your copier has the greatest risk of being breached? There are 3 reasons for such a potential hazard; but if you follow my suggestions below your risk will diminish.
3 Reasons Your Data is at Risk
- Everything that is copied and printed is stored on an internal hard drive. Since a large percentage of copiers are leased, often the office manager just returns the old copier in exchange for a new one. Along with the old copier goes 3-5 years of confidential data that could end up in your competitors’ or hackers hands.
Be sure to have the copier tech take out the hard drive and wipe it clean in front of you or if that cannot be done, obtain a certificate of authenticity from your leasing vendor that says the hard drive was wiped clean when it was returned to their center.
Last, when looking to rent or lease a new copier, ask about hard drive security options including encryption and erase features that will render the hard drive unusable if stolen from your company or the leasing provider.
- The default password is never changed. Most copier default passwords are very simple, like 1111 or 123456. This makes it easy for 25 people to remember it when they go to the copier. However, this is also perfect for data thieves because there is nothing difficult to crack.
Change your password often and make it complex. Change it when staff leaves the company or moves out of the department and no longer need access to that copier. Yes, people will grumble about the changes, but remind them it is everyone’s business to keep the company’s data secure.
- Copies that are no longer useful are not destroyed properly. Once a HR meeting concludes or a product launch occurs, the binders full of confidential information need to be archived and destroyed. It is important to remove this data from your office because if it is easy to access the copier, that data can be copied and stolen right from under your nose.
Put together a process where copies are scanned and shredded when no longer useful. If the information will need to be accessed at some future date, then use a scanner rental to scan those documents.
Hartford Technology Rental Has Your Copier Concerns Covered
We help you with a copier audit to ensure all security needs are met before, during and after the copier rental or lease. Contact us at 888.520.5667 for details.