Your Printers Need Good Cybersecurity, Too

Today’s smart printers must be protected like any other endpoint in your organization – because most printers today are multi-function devices with onboard storage and are part of your office network, threat actors see them as a prime target.

If you’ve not thought to include your printing infrastructure as part of your overall security strategy, now’s the time – and your managed service provider can help.

Believe or not, your printer is one the most vulnerable endpoints on your network, and a hacked printer will at the very least inconvenience your users and possibly threaten your entire business. In the same way that an employee smartphone or remote worker’s laptop is a gateway to mission critical systems and information on your enterprise network, your fleet of printers represent computing endpoints that can be hacked.

Just as people used to send funny jokes via fax machines, networked printers are now the target of pranks, with hackers infiltrating through open printer ports to execute bogus test page with messages on them to let the organization they’ve been breached. More extreme examples involve hackers using unsecured printers to spew out ads and random documents no one your company wants – and wasting paper is the least of your worries.

If your networked printer gets hijacked, you should be as alarmed as if your laptop screen was suddenly filled with pop up ads. And just like your laptop – or smartphone – a printer is a great jumping off point for threat actors to sneak into your office network while your users are distracted by failed print jobs.

You may not even get any indication your printer has been compromised. Rather than bother with silly pranks, a serious hacker will use their access to move around your network until they find a way to do serious damage by stealing data or holding it hostage with ransomware. Before you realize it you’ve been compromised, it may be too late to prevent damage to your business and reputation.

But like any endpoint, a network printer can be secured by following protocols that prevent them from being accessed remotely or by unauthorized users. A managed service provider can help you audit and secure your printer fleet as part of a broader strategy to secure your IT infrastructure.

There are many ways artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning already impact cybersecurity. You can expect that trend to continue in 2024 – both as tools for data protection as well as a threat.

Balancing Cybersecurity Innovation Amid Evolving Threat Landscapes

Even as you implement AI and machine learning into your cybersecurity strategy through the adoption of tools like Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR), Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) and Managed Detection and Response (MDR), so are threat actors. They will continue to update and evolve their own methodologies and tools to compromise their targets by applying AI and machine learning to how they use ransomware, malware and deepfakes.

With small and medium-sized businesses just much at risk as their large enterprise counterparts, SMBs must take advantage of AI and machine learning as mush possible. AI-directed attacks are expected to rise in 2024 in the form of deepfake technologies that make phishing and impersonation more effective, as well as evolving ransomware and malware.

Deepfake social engineering techniques

Deepfake technologies that leverage AI are especially worrisome, as they can create fake content that spurs employees and organizations to work against their best interests. Hackers can use deepfakes to create massive changes with serious financial consequences, including altering stock prices.

Deepfake social engineering techniques will only improve with the use of AI, increasing the likelihood of data breaches through unauthorized access to systems and more authentic looking phishing messages that are more personalized, and hence, more effective.

Countering Cyber Threats and Harnessing Innovation in 2024

If hackers are keen on leveraging AI and machine learning to defeat your cybersecurity, you must be ready to combat them in equal measure – just as AI and machine learning will create new challenges in 2024, they can also help you bolster your cybersecurity. While regulations are being developed to foster ethical use of AI, threat actors are not likely to follow them.

AI will also affect your cyber insurance as your providers will use it to assess your resilience against cyberattacks and adjust your premium payments accordingly. AI presents an opportunity for you to improve your cybersecurity to keep those insurance costs under control.

Conclusion

There’s a lot of doom being predicted around the growing use of AI and machine learning. And while it does pose a risk to your organization and its sensitive data, you can use it to bolster your cybersecurity even as threat actors leverage AI to up the ante. A managed service provider with a focus on security can help you use AI and machine learning to protect your organization as we head into 2024.

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