How to Improve the Security of Your Print Environment by Doing Less

The complexity of technology and the speed at which it’s evolving have a big impact on our lives. Not only do we have more powerful devices on our desks and in our pockets, those digital devices are more integral to everything we do. That ups the risk of sensitive information getting exposed to outsiders.

To safeguard against accidental and intentional data breaches, organizations need to tighten the screws on their print environment. That’s something they can do through features like secure printing. The only problem is that improving print security means sinking even more time and effort into print management.

Actually, that’s no longer the case. With the right serverless print infrastructure, you can harden your print security while spending less time on printer support. All it takes is PrinterLogic and this four-part strategy.

1. Monitor print data through auditing

Thanks to its integrated advanced reporting capabilities, PrinterLogic allows admins to see exactly who printed what, when and where. It can also help identify the devices and users that printed confidential files. 

By conducting audits of print activity, any out-of-compliance issues can be quickly identified and corrected. The associated reporting can also be used as a cost-saving mechanism to keep consumables usage in check, which is exactly what Epic Management, LP did. (Read the case study here.

Nope, AAA doesn’t stand for the American Automobile Association. (Although we do have a great case study for AAA Carolinas that you should check out.) Here it means authorization, authentication and accountability. 

PrinterLogic SaaS integrates with Active Directory as well as cloud-based identity providers (IdPs) like Okta and Azure AD. That makes it easy to configure printing authorizations. You can also configure any network printer—even legacy devices—for secure release printing. Combined with accountability through auditing, you score the AAA hat trick with minimal effort.

3. Reduce your attack surface

An attack surface is really just the sum total of all the possible data entry and extraction points in your IT environment. Legacy printing solutions like print servers increase your attack surface. When they spool print jobs, they create a convenient attack vector for malicious actors. Print jobs that cross the WAN to a remote print server create even more intercept points.

PrinterLogic’s serverless print infrastructure changes all that. By leveraging direct IP printing, it ensures that print jobs only travel between the client and the printer. That keeps print jobs off shared servers and also prevents those jobs from crossing the WAN.

4. Employ strong management solutions

Secure printing is augmented by solid print management. A unified window onto the print environment and intuitive control over default printer settings and other configurations can help admins lock down unsecured areas. PrinterLogic’s centralized admin console does just that.

But efficient print management can help in other ways. For instance, Hunton & Williams LLP used PrinterLogic’s mobile printing to support guest printers and keep visitors off the primary Wi-Fi network. And they didn’t have to pour tons of resources into setting it up. (Read the case study here.)

Want to eliminate print servers, secure your printing, and streamline printer support? PrinterLogic’s serverless print infrastructure gives you the ability to ditch your print servers, implement secure printing and optimize your print management—all with a single, simple solution.