There is no question that technology is radically changing the environment we live in at an uncharted pace. In a world where new tech gadgets are deployed every day, it is easy to overlook the standard-feature technologies that still play a role in our lives. Case in point: the printer.
Today, the public sector is focused on optimizing its work for an increasingly digital world, but printers still play a major role in government work, and office life in general. The average U.S worker uses about 10,000 sheets of copy paper per year. More so, it’s estimated that federal employees print on average 30 pages per day – 7,200 pages per employee, per year.
Though printers are still in such high demand, security remains lax. Only 38 percent of survey respondents indicated that their organization has a security policy regarding printers. Nineteen percent said their organization does not have a policy, and the other 43 percent were not sure. Thus, even though printers are still widely utilized – even for confidential information – they are not properly secured throughout the public sector.
There is such an intense focus on digital, mobile and cloud that oftentimes the security of end-point devices like the printer falls out of view. As we will discuss in this research brief, however, the printer should be included in your agency’s overall security policy and compliance.
