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Office Copiers Are a Treasure Trove of Sensitive Data

by Terrence O'Brien on March 30, 2010 at 03:45 PM

Believe it or not, that lowly office copier may just be the weak link in your office's security. Modern copy machines aren't just dumb blocks of electronics that photograph documents and regurgitate them on a piece of paper. They're networked computers, with hard drives, that store anything and everything you scan or copy.

The Toronto Star talked to Victor Beitner, founder of Cyber Security Canada, who said that most businesses are completely unaware of the sensitive material just sitting in most copiers, waiting for hackers. He says that almost every copier he encounters is still storing confidential documents, names, e-mail addresses, phone numbers and even medical records.

Some companies are smart enough to remove or wipe hard drives before sending copiers to be junked or sold, but even those are vulnerable if they're not properly protected within their network. Beitner demonstrated to the Star just how simple it was to access a printer on an unprotected network: with a quick Google search (no "hacking" required) he was able to view the latest activity of a copier in a Korean office.

If removing or completely scrubbing a copier's hard drive isn't possible, Beitner suggests clearing the memory and changing the passcode. This will at least make the hard drive's info inaccessible to all but the most determined hacker. [From: Toronto Star]

Tags: copier, CopyMachine, CyberSecurity, hack, office, privacy, security, top

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