In today’s “wild west” world in terms of data, is your copier truly secure? Daily, it seems like we’re hearing about yet another massive data breach with millions of records or passwords compromised. One area of security we don’t hear too much about involves your copier.
Since 2002, every copier manufactured has, somewhere in its innards, a hard drive that contains every document that is scanned, printed or photocopied using that machine. That means you have a potential data time bomb sitting in the middle of your office; confidential employee and client information, proprietary and privileged data, all in one easy to access place. (flying under the radar of most business owners).
Imagine what could be on that drive. From social security and bank information to healthcare information, birth certificates, bank statements and tax returns, it’s a treasure trove for identity thieves! Plus, it’s a huge potential legal liability for your business.
What Can You Do to Protect Your Business
First, recognize the problem and take it seriously. It’s increasingly important in our connected world to take a proactive approach to data security. Especially when everything from your network printer to your mobile phone is susceptible to breach.
In 2008, the maker of Sharp copiers conducted a survey in which they found that 60% of businesses did not realize that there was a hard drive in their copier. They then proceeded to try to notify owners of this potential gap in security and were met with silence from consumers. There-in lies the rub. Businesses do not understand the severity of the problem.
It’s important to take some basic responsibility. Understand that today’s copiers are basically computers and require the same level of security as any other system on your network. There are several steps you can take to ensure the security of your data, and if your copier is online, your entire network.
- Use “scrub” software. Xerox copiers ship with built in software that securely erases any data stored on the machine’s hard drive within a specified period of time.
- Use key cards or personalized passwords to allow user access. Using a key card or password creates an audit trail allowing for discovery in the event of an incident. Passwords can be set to different levels of service for each employee or department.
- Encrypt Data. Use data encryption software that will automatically encrypt data when it is scanned, copied, or faxed before storing it on the internal drive.
- When you decommission your machine, remove and erase the drive. Make sure you properly prepare your machine before you decommission it and sell or return it back to your leasing company.
Most manufacturers offer some form of security for a price. Whatever you choose to do, make sure that you do something to protect your data from breach. Often the small upfront price paid when you buy or lease your machine is more than worth the cost of the damage to your business should a breach occur.
