Improved Security in Photocopiers

Monday, 14 July 2008 09:48

The efficiency of photocopiers has improved greatly over the last few years and this has much to do with the incorporation of hard drives in the devices which can store documents. Although a great advancement, it is these hard drives that have caused security concerns regarding unauthorised persons accessing the stored information. There have been big improvements in security measures recently and there are several different options available, meaning that most businesses can find an option to meet their security needs.

The use of hard drives in photocopiers has made printing and copying much more efficient as users are able to store documents for printing and access them directly from the device. To prevent unauthorised people accessing these stored documents secure mailboxes are often used which allow the user to save their documents in a password secured mailbox and access them directly at the device. When printing very sensitive documents, some photocopiers allow secure water marks to be used. This works by embedding an invisible water mark on printed documents so that, if they are copied, the word "Confidential" is printed across the document.

Many people have been concerned about unauthorised users accessing the hard drive of the photocopiers and gaining access to all of the information that had been printed or copied. With new security measures such as HDD Erase and HDD Encryption Kits the risk of hard drives being read can be greatly reduced. HDD Erase Kits overwrite hard disk areas where documents have been temporarily stored with random data, after the documents have been printed or copied. HDD Encryption Kits encrypt data before it is written onto the hard disk drive, which provides protection for sensitive documents that are temporary stored or permanently saved onto the device.

There are many different ways that passwords and logins can be used to reduce the risk of unauthorised people accessing documents stored on photocopiers. These can vary from one login used for a whole company to fingerprint recognition required for extremely sensitive documents. Single sign only allows people who can sign onto the network access the networked printers. This means that all the people in the workplace can access the printers, but people outside the workplace cannot access stored and unencrypted data. A simple login allows the set up of a different login for each employee. This means that each employee can only access their own stored documents, and would need authorisation to access anyone else's stored data.

Logins can also be used in conjunction with encrypted printing software which encrypts documents that are sent over the network, only printing the documents once a password has been entered into the device. This software significantly reduces the risk of an unauthorised person picking up sensitive documents off the device before the user has picked them up themselves.

The introduction of hard drives to photocopiers has caused some concern regarding security risks. However, there are many different measures that can now be implemented to reduce the risk of sensitive documents being accessed by unauthorised persons. These vary depending on what device is used and how old it is, but, with the right measures in place, businesses can be more confident that their documents will be secure.