Is Your Copier Secure?

by Karin Finley, Legal Solutions Specialist, California Office Systems, Inc.  Karin Finley is a member of the Orange County Chapter of SoCalPROS.

In mid-April, many viewers watched a CBS investigative report concerning the information stored on the hard drives of digital copiers. The report was titled, “Digital Copiers Loaded with Secrets, Your Office Copy Machine Might Digitally Store Thousands of Documents That Get Passed on at Resale”

Security is a critical issue in today’s business and legal environments. Undoubtedly, your firm has taken various steps to protect your documents from loss or unauthorized access and distribution, and steps to protect your network from various threats such as viruses, worms, Trojan horses, malware, etc.

Have you considered the security of the multifunction (MFP) device you bought to handle your firm’s scanning, printing, copying and faxing needs?

Today’s MFP’s are essentially computers equipped with memory and hard disc drives that capture and manipulate image data and convert it into bits and bytes. This makes your MFP part of your network. Because of this increased network functionality, security measures must be taken to ensure data integrity and accountability going to and from the device both within your internal network and information sent outside your firewall.

Controlling Access to the MFP Device and Data

Most MFP’s as well as other “Cost Recovery” products such as Equitrac provide security by making authorized users enter an access code before using the MFP. Without a proper code the control panel on the device is locked, blocking authorized use.

Network Authentication is another means of control via your network. This is ideal for large installations and many users. Network administrators can control access to the device in the same way they control network access at the desktop level. Users are required to enter their network user name and password to gain access to the control panel on the MFP.

Private Print is offered on some MFP’s. With this feature you put a code on your print job at your desktop. The job will not print until you enter it on the MFP. The code is unique to each job and known only to the creator. Private print is ideal for confidential document printing and prevents other people from accidentally picking up the wrong print job.

Secure PDF provides protection when sending documents to email and network locations. With Secure PDF, users assign a password to scanned PDF document. The password allows for various levels of control such as access, printing, editing and copying the content. Furthermore encryption can be applied to ensure it is stored safely. Secure PDF is the perfect solution for those wanting to email or store scanned documents without compromising the content. eCopy PaperWorks Software is popular in the legal market for creating secure PDF documents.

Protection of Data Integrity

Most MFP’s come standard with a hard disk drive that provides a large storage capacity and manages the data flow into and out of the device. As the data is scanned into the device, it is temporarily stored on the drive until it is processed. Whenever pages are scanned, printed, copied or faxed, the MFP device may retain data in its internal memory. Additional steps are necessary to render this data completely useless.

Hard Drive Encryption or “Scrambler Boards” offer encryption and decryption of all data being written to the hard disc drive of the MFP. This includes all copy, fax, print and scan jobs processed at the MFP. Encryption technology scrambles the information stored on your hard disc drive and makes the data unrecognizable.

Data Overwrite Kits ensure that the hard disk drive is absolutely clear of readable data by overwriting the actual data with random and numerical characters. Additionally, the disk is automatically cleared immediately after the device has completed each job, preventing the data from being recovered by unauthorized users.

Encryption technologies and data overwrite kits should be used together for an increased security. The advantage to having both options installed is that information written to the hard drive is rendered useless, while stored information on the hard drive is encrypted. This provides a maximum level of security to ensure that all forms of data are protected. Kyocera office products are well-known for their data security kits and encryption technology.

Finally, many MFP’s are returned to a leasing company at the end of their lease, reconditioned and sold to other businesses. So even if your MFP or hard disk drive is never stolen from your office or hacked into by unauthorized users, other people may gain access to your hard disk drive when they buy your used MFP. Security is critical!

Shopping for a copier has changed drastically in the 16+ years I have specialized in the Southern California Legal Market. My recommendation is to look for a complete solution including controlled access to your device, secure PDF sending and proven data security solutions!