You’ve invested millions. Your endpoint protection is state-of-the-art, your firewalls are robust, and your team is trained to spot the latest phishing attack. You’ve mapped your attack surface and feel a sense of control over your digital ecosystem. But what about the one endpoint that’s almost invisible, humming quietly in every office? The one that holds copies of your most sensitive documents before they’re shredded?
For too long, the humble printer has been treated as a harmless office peripheral. But in a latest article published August 2025, a stark warning has been issued to security leaders: the printer is no longer a simple box. It’s a sophisticated, networked computer, and it represents one of the most significant, overlooked gaps in enterprise security today.
Overlooking printer security isn’t just a minor oversight; it’s a potential multi-million dollar crisis waiting to happen.
The Overlooked Endpoint: A Gateway for a $7 Million Breach
While PCs and servers are fortified with layers of protection, printers are often left undefended: a blind spot that attackers are eager to exploit. The truth is that today’s printers are attractive targets with onboard storage, internet connectivity, and direct access to your corporate network.
According to the article, researchers have already identified hundreds of thousands of internet-connected printers vulnerable to hijacking. Malicious actors can exploit firmware vulnerabilities or poor configurations to:
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- Steal sensitive documents directly from a printer’s internal storage.
- Gain an initial foothold to pivot deeper into your corporate network.
- Conscript your printers into a botnet like Mirai to attack other organizations.
The financial stakes are staggering. Citing IBM’s 2025 report, the analysis notes the average data breach in Canada now costs $6.98 million. A single unpatched printer has the potential to become the entry point for that exact crisis.
A Lifecycle of Risk: Where Printer Security Processes Break Down
The vulnerability isn’t just in the technology itself, but in the broken processes surrounding the device at every stage of its life.
The Procurement Process: An Open Door for Risk
The risk begins before the device is even unboxed. Research from HP Wolf Security, cited in the article, reveals a critical process failure: IT and security teams are often excluded from procurement. A survey found that fewer than 37% of Canadian organizations bring IT, security, and procurement together to define security standards when buying printers. This means vendor claims go unverified and devices that don’t meet security standards enter the organization by default.
The Management Process: A Story of Lag and Low Visibility
Once a printer is deployed, the process gaps continue. Despite IT teams claiming to spend three hours per printer per month on security, the results are alarming. According to the data:
- Only 33% of Canadian organizations apply critical firmware updates promptly.
- 41% of IT decision-makers can’t even confirm if a new printer has been tampered with in transit.
- Security teams struggle to identify vulnerable printers or detect security events linked to hardware-level attacks.
The Disposal Process: A Threat to Data and Sustainability
The end of the printer’s life presents the final process failure. The research shows that 23% of Canadian IT leaders are uncertain if printers can be safely wiped of all data. This uncertainty creates a major roadblock to sustainable disposal, with a staggering 81% citing data security as an obstacle to recycling or reuse. In a shocking admission, 18% believe they must physically destroy printer drives to mitigate risk, creating unnecessary waste and undermining corporate sustainability goals.
Building a Resilient Print Security Program: A CISO’s Checklist
To close these critical gaps, the article urges organizations to adopt a lifecycle-based approach to printer security. This is not a task for the IT helpdesk alone; it requires strategic oversight from the CISO to build a resilient, end-to-end process.
- Unify the Procurement Process: Mandate collaboration between IT, security, and procurement teams from day one. Define baseline security requirements for any new print device and require vendors to provide technical documentation to validate their claims.
- Strengthen Ongoing Management: Implement a strict policy for prompt firmware updates. Integrate printer security logs into your SIEM tools to ensure your SOC has visibility into this critical endpoint. Regularly check device security configurations against your policies.
- Demand Secure Lifecycle Features: When purchasing, prioritize printers with built-in, robust security that covers the entire lifecycle. Look for features like real-time threat detection, policy-based compliance tools, and, critically, built-in secure erasure of data to streamline safe decommissioning and support sustainability efforts.
- Address Offline Threats: Remember that 75% of Canadian IT leaders are concerned about users printing and walking away with sensitive data. Your printer security program must also include controls for secure encrypted printing and data loss prevention.
It’s Time to Give Printer Security the Attention It Deserves
The printer continues to be an integral part of the modern office. As such, it demands an integral place in your cybersecurity strategy. The article makes it clear that true cyber resilience requires closing every gap, especially the ones hiding in plain sight. Treating printer security as a long-term commitment to a secure process is no longer optional, it’s essential.
For Further Reading:
This blog post is based on the insights presented in the academic paper: Why CISOs must rethink their security priorities. (2025, Aug 26). PrintAction, Retrieved from https://www.proquest.com/magazines/why-cisos-must-rethink-their-security-priorities/docview/3243627824/se-2
