According to a study by Quocirca, the leading source of market insight in the print industry, about 63 percent of organizations have gone through one or more data breaches because of vulnerabilities in their printing infrastructure. Despite this, many companies still lack protective measures for their printing environments, putting them at risk of experiencing repeated data breaches. Investing in a robust print management software solution can help prevent print security problems from within and outside your organization.

What are print security breaches?

The most common type of print security breach is actually unintentional—that is, when an authorized user prints a sensitive document on a shared printer, but someone else sees or picks it up by accident. A user might also end up using the wrong printer and forgetting about the confidential document. 

But print security breaches may be intentional, too. For instance, print errors and confidential documents may be printed on purpose by disgruntled employees, resulting in serious damage to the organization’s reputation. 

How to secure your print environment 

The first step to securing your print infrastructure is taking stock of your organization’s unique needs and assessing your current level of print security. From there, you can decide on a printing software solution that meets your print management requirements.

1. Decide

Determine the realistic level of print security you need and how to achieve it. Focus on departments that are likely to print confidential documents and are vulnerable to attacks and data breaches. Moreover, identify areas that abuse printer resources for their benefit. Educate your users so that they understand the financial impact of security breaches on your organization.

2. Document

Document results to monitor costs and printing activities while gaining regulatory proof points. Proper documentation allows for better recommendations and a deeper analysis of your printing environment. Archive your print data in a database to establish traceable and accurate reference points showing who printed what, where, and when.

3. Deliver

Aside from educating users about printing security, it is also your responsibility to build a more secure printing environment. Look for secure printing software that can integrate with your current infrastructure while increasing security and lowering costs. It should relieve you of the burden of delivery and cover all IT platforms, integrate with all printers on your existing infrastructure, and offer long-term cost savings in deployment.

How a print management solution can help 

We live in a day and age of mobility and cloud technology, so it is more important than ever to secure your print infrastructure to protect your assets and reputation. Print management software solutions can strengthen your print security, making printers and IT systems less vulnerable to attacks. They also let you manage print jobs more efficiently, no matter your printers or technologies. 

A robust print management solution offers not only document security but also zero uncollected print jobs, actionable reports, global secure printing, and the ability to print from any device. The best solutions are universally user-friendly and are built to improve productivity.

Get print management solutions now 

Plus Technologies offers a vendor-neutral and cross-platform printing software suite consisting of multiple solutions for solving specific output management issues in your organization. Its modern features are available anytime and anywhere. Learn more about this print management software by requesting a demo or a free trial, so you can understand how it can help your organization prevent security breaches.