How to Secure Your Print Environment (Step-by-Step)

Printers and copiers are among the most overlooked entry points in a business network. According to Quocirca's 2024 Print Security Landscape report, 67% of organizations experienced at least one print-related data breach in the past year, with average costs exceeding £1 million. Despite this, 57% of SMBs still treat printer security as a low priority.

This guide provides 10 concrete, ordered steps for securing your print environment, written for business owners and IT decision-makers who need actionable direction.

Why Are Office Printers a Security Risk?

Modern multifunction printers (MFPs) are fully networked computers. They store documents on internal hard drives, process confidential files, connect to cloud services, accept remote print jobs, and expose administrative interfaces through web browsers. Any one of these functions creates an exploitable vulnerability if left unconfigured.

Common attack surfaces on networked printers include:

• Internal hard drives that retain copies of scanned, printed, faxed, and copied documents
• Open network ports that allow unauthorized devices to communicate with the printer
• Default administrator credentials that are publicly documented by manufacturers
• Unencrypted data transmission between the printer and sending device
• Web-based admin panels accessible without authentication on the same network

A separate Forbes analysis found that 35% of recent security breaches are tied to print security deficiencies. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) classifies networked printers as endpoints requiring the same security controls applied to laptops and servers.

What Are the Most Common Print Security Mistakes Businesses Make?

The most common print security mistakes include using factory-default settings, skipping firmware updates, allowing unrestricted network access, and providing no employee training on secure printing practices.

Research from HP found that 66% of SMB knowledge workers assume printers are secure simply because they sit on the office network or behind an internal firewall. That assumption is incorrect. A printer behind a firewall is still vulnerable to internal threats, misconfigured permissions, and outdated software.

The most frequently observed mistakes:

• Never changing default admin passwords on printers or their web interfaces
• No pull printing or PIN-release requirements, allowing anyone to collect printed documents
• Skipping firmware updates for months or years, leaving known exploits unpatched
• No audit logging, making it impossible to detect unauthorized access after the fact
• Treating printers as isolated devices rather than endpoints within the broader network

How Do You Secure a Print Environment Step by Step?

Securing a print environment requires addressing device configuration, network placement, user access controls, data handling, and monitoring in sequence. The 10 steps below follow a logical order from baseline configuration through ongoing governance.

Step 1: Change All Default Credentials Immediately

Every networked printer ships with a default administrator username and password. These credentials are published in manufacturer documentation and widely known. Change them before the device connects to your production network.

Use a unique, complex password for each device. Document credentials in a secure password manager, not a shared spreadsheet.

Step 2: Update Printer Firmware

Manufacturers release firmware updates to patch known security vulnerabilities. Many businesses run printers on firmware that is two or more years out of date. Check your device manufacturer's support page and apply available updates.

Set a recurring calendar reminder to check for firmware updates every 90 days. Some enterprise print management platforms can automate this process across a fleet.

Step 3: Disable Unused Ports and Protocols

Printers often arrive with multiple network ports and communication protocols enabled by default, including FTP, Telnet, SNMP v1, and others that are rarely needed in a standard office environment. Each open port is a potential entry point.

Access your printer's web-based admin panel and disable every port and protocol your environment does not actively use. Common ports to evaluate:

• Port 21 (FTP) - disable unless file transfer is required
• Port 23 (Telnet) - disable; replace with SSH if remote terminal access is needed
• Port 80 (HTTP) - consider disabling in favor of HTTPS only
• SNMP v1/v2 - upgrade to SNMP v3, which supports authentication and encryption

Step 4: Segment Printers on the Network

Place printers on a dedicated network segment or VLAN, separate from workstations, servers, and other endpoints. Network segmentation limits the damage a compromised printer can cause by restricting what other systems it can reach.

This is one of the foundational principles of zero-trust architecture. Only 37% of IT decision-makers have implemented zero-trust principles in their environments, according to TechRadar, which means the majority of print environments remain fully open internally.

Configure firewall rules to allow only the specific traffic types needed: print jobs from authorized devices, management traffic from the IT admin workstation, and nothing else.

Step 5: Require User Authentication for Print Release

Pull printing, also called follow-me printing or secure print release, holds print jobs in a queue until the user authenticates at the device using a PIN, badge swipe, or biometric verification. Documents are only released to the person who sent them.

This eliminates the single most common source of printed data exposure: documents left uncollected in output trays. Sensitive files — payroll records, legal documents, client contracts — are never physically accessible to unintended recipients.

Pull printing also reduces waste. Research consistently shows that 20-30% of print jobs are never collected.

Step 6: Enable Data Encryption on the Device and in Transit

Printers should encrypt data stored on internal hard drives and encrypt data transmitted across the network. Both protections address different threat scenarios.

• At-rest encryption protects stored document images if a hard drive is removed from the device
• In-transit encryption (TLS/SSL) protects print job data as it travels from the sending computer to the printer

Verify that your devices support AES-256 encryption for stored data. Confirm that the printer's web admin interface forces HTTPS rather than HTTP.

Step 7: Implement Hard Drive Security Policies

MFP hard drives store images of every document processed. Without deliberate controls, those images accumulate indefinitely.

Configure devices to automatically overwrite stored document data after each job is processed. This function is called automatic image overwrite and is available on most enterprise-grade MFPs. It writes random data over the storage location immediately after job completion.

For devices being decommissioned, retired, or returned to a leasing company, perform a certified hard drive wipe or physical destruction before the device leaves your control. Returning a copier with an unwiped hard drive is one of the most overlooked data exposure risks in an SMB environment.

Step 8: Restrict Administrative Access

Printer admin panels should be accessible only to authorized IT personnel. Implement the following controls:

• Assign administrative access based on job role, not convenience
• Require multi-factor authentication (MFA) for remote admin access where the device supports it
• Restrict web admin panel access by IP address so only designated management stations can reach it
• Log all administrative actions taken on each device

This step is particularly relevant for businesses where multiple staff members historically shared admin access or where the printer was set up and never revisited.

Step 9: Audit and Monitor Print Activity

Continuous monitoring of print activity creates an audit trail and enables detection of unusual behavior. Without logging, there is no way to identify a breach, investigate an incident, or demonstrate compliance with regulations like HIPAA, FINRA, or GDPR.

Configure devices to log:

• Every print, scan, copy, and fax job with user identity and timestamp
• Failed authentication attempts
• Configuration changes to device settings
• Any external communication from the device

Review logs on a defined schedule, or integrate print activity logs into your centralized SIEM (security information and event management) platform if one is in use. This connects print security directly to your broader cybersecurity monitoring.

60% of SMBs report that existing document processes could lead to a data or privacy issue, according to BetaNews. A logging policy is the minimum requirement to detect and respond when that concern becomes a real event.

Step 10: Train Employees on Secure Print Practices

Technology controls are only effective when employees understand why they exist and what behaviors they need to change. Employee training is one of the least implemented and highest-impact components of a print security program.

Training should cover:

• Never leaving documents unattended in output trays
• Using PIN release or badge authentication for sensitive jobs
• Not using personal email or USB drives to transfer documents through the printer
• Reporting suspicious device behavior or unexpected print jobs to IT
• Understanding what document types require secure printing based on company policy

Training does not need to be lengthy. A 15-minute annual review of print security policies, combined with visible reminders near devices, measurably reduces human error in print environments.

Are There Compliance Standards That Apply to Print Security?

Yes. Several regulatory frameworks include requirements that directly affect how businesses must handle printed and scanned documents.

• HIPAA requires covered entities to implement technical safeguards for electronic protected health information (ePHI), which includes data processed by MFPs in healthcare settings
• GDPR requires organizations handling EU resident data to protect it throughout its lifecycle, including when it is printed or scanned
• FINRA and SOX require financial services firms to maintain audit trails for document handling and restrict access to sensitive financial records
• PCI DSS requires controls over cardholder data, including physical security for printed documents containing payment card information

Non-compliance with these standards carries financial penalties. HIPAA violations range from $100 to $50,000 per violation depending on severity and negligence level.

How Often Should Printer Firmware Be Updated?

Printer firmware should be reviewed for updates every 90 days at minimum. When a critical security vulnerability is disclosed, firmware should be updated within 30 days of the patch release.

Manufacturers including HP, Xerox, Ricoh, Canon, and Konica Minolta publish security advisories and firmware changelogs on their support portals. Subscribe to those notifications for each device model in your fleet.

How Does Print Security Fit Into an Overall Cybersecurity Strategy?

Print security is an endpoint security problem. Printers should be treated with the same policies applied to laptops, mobile devices, and servers: asset inventory, access controls, encryption, monitoring, and regular patching.

Businesses that manage IT through a managed IT services provider should verify that their provider's endpoint security policies explicitly include printers and MFPs. Many standard managed IT contracts address computers and servers but exclude print devices unless specifically negotiated.

For organizations that rely on networked copiers and printers as part of daily operations, a managed print services agreement can address device configuration, firmware maintenance, and fleet monitoring as part of a defined service level.

What Should I Do First If I Have Never Reviewed My Print Security?

Start with a print environment audit. Identify every networked printer and MFP on your network, document their current firmware versions, check default credentials, and review what ports are open.

If your organization does not have internal IT resources to perform this audit, a copier and printer service provider that offers security configuration support can conduct a baseline review.

The goal of the first review is not perfection. It is visibility. You cannot secure what you have not inventoried.