Securing the print infrastructure amid a growing threat landscape
As organisations adjust to managing remote and hybrid teams, supporting digital transformation, and navigating an uncertain and volatile global economy, they face an ever-expanding landscape of vulnerabilities and increasing risk.
Quocirca’s research reveals that 42% of organisations have experienced a cybersecurity incident in the past year, rising to 51% in the finance sector and 55% amongst midmarket organisations. The volume of security incidents has increased in the past year for 61% of organisations.
The print infrastructure is not immune to security risks – on average, paper documents represent 27% of IT security incidents. Today’s intelligent multi-function printers (MFPs) not only pose a risk of paper output falling into the wrong hands – whether accidentally or maliciously – but also can be exposed as gateways into the rest of an organisation’s environment.
Home printers pose an additional risk, particularly those that were purchased by employees. This shadow purchasing means home printers may not meet corporate security standards or be monitored through centralised security tools.
Fortunately, print security leaders are mitigating risks. As shown by Quocirca’s Print Security Maturity Index, organisations classed as leaders, which have implemented a range of technology and policy measures, are seeing lower levels of data loss and have higher confidence in the security of their print infrastructure.
Vendor profile: HP
HP retains a leadership position in Quocirca’s 2023 vendor assessment of the print security market. It has a long heritage in end-user computing and continues to drive security innovation across its personal systems and print business.
With HP Wolf Security, HP offers a comprehensive and scalable security portfolio for businesses of all sizes – from small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to enterprises. HP Wolf Security portfolio unifies all HP’s end-point security capabilities with a range of advanced security features across its hardware, software, and services portfolio. In particular, HP’s leading market position is bolstered by having the most extensive channel network in the sector, supported by a broad range of channel tools and services to help channel partners build and enhance their security-led services.
With comprehensive hardware security for smaller businesses and advanced security services and solutions for larger businesses that use a managed print service (MPS), HP’s extensive products and services portfolio is strongly positioned in the market. Standard features such as BIOS protection and runtime intrusion detection across HP’s print and MFP portfolio are key differentiators in the market. HP also offers several options for authentication, job accounting, and pull-print solutions.
As the hybrid workplace continues to evolve and the threat landscape intensifies, by virtue of the security research led by its R&D labs group, HP is well positioned to drive further innovation in the market. Quocirca expects to see more integration of HP Wolf Security solutions across HP’s entire print and PC business. As businesses start reviewing both their print and PC infrastructure, channel partners will be better equipped to address the requirements of customers looking for standardised solutions.
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