The Benefits of Mobile Print Strategy

Security is an important aspect of today’s workplace and one of the more recent concerns of employees is how to expand wireless printing capabilities while maintaining security. This comes from two distinct concerns:

Wireless printers are a security risk

Now that the majority of printers on your system are network printers they are vulnerable to security risks just as a computer would be. Wireless printers use the same wireless technology as laptops, tablets, smartphones, and other mobile devices. This means your printer can not only communicate with these devices but over the internet as well. A hacker can claim access to the printer at any moment. This goes beyond sending print jobs to the printer from outside the network as the hacker can see the print queue to view and copy pending and past print jobs. If your wireless network isn’t completely secure, the hacker has another way to access documents heading to the printer. A final document security threat that has been around awhile is that some users may send a print job and forget about it, leaving the document sitting on the printer.

How to implement employees who use their own devices

There are many advantages to allowing your employees to be able to access the printer from their mobile devices. The ability to print from cell phones, tablets, and other mobile devices lets your employees be more flexible and productive.

An effective mobile print strategy will address these concerns

The right managed print services strategy will allow you to operate these devices safely and securely. Here are some aspects of an effective mobile print strategy and some things you can do to ensure the security of your mobile networks.

Keep the printer software up to date – Just like your computer system, your network printer has internal software. Periodic updates from the manufacturer will enable the software to keep up with the latest security threats.
Use encryption – If you use the printer’s hard drive to store documents to print later, make sure it is encrypted using a strong method.
Print from RAM, not from the hard drive – Your printer may be configurable and allow you to bypass the hard drive and print directly from RAM. This is more secure than printing from the hard drive and doesn’t affect the performance of the printer.
Set permissions – Manage your network to control who can and can’t send and manage print jobs. An open printer that allows anyone to print is not secure.
Set passwords – Consider using a printer that requires a PIN number, password or biometric authentication. When you require a user to physically be at the printer to begin a print job you reduce the risk of the user leaving the document on the printer.

Greenan will help you implement the perfect mobile printing strategy that keeps your documents secure and makes sense for your organization. At Greenan we provide a mobile service manager app through which our customers can scan documents anywhere to help share and keep documents. A multi-function option that can work in unison with existing platforms, mobile workforce, and the ability to print easily from all BYODs, including Apple AirPrint and Mophi, we have solutions for businesses in every industry. Connect your employees across the office and beyond with our mobile service manager.