The FINANCIAL — HP Inc. on December 5 announced it has redesigned HP Managed Print Services (MPS) to help protect corporate print environments against cyberattacks with the world’s most secure printing.
New HP Secure MPS capabilities include advanced security professional services, software solutions and expanded core delivery capabilities for customers’ multi-vendor print fleets. In addition, HP announced the pre-configuring of HP print devices for security, according to HP.
“Networked printers can no longer be overlooked in the wake of weakening firewalls to the growing sophistication and volume of cyberattacks,” said Ed Wingate VP & GM, JetAdvantage Solutions at HP, Inc. “That’s why HP has established a new benchmark in managed print services, infusing security best practices into everything that we do to enable our customers to stay on top of growing endpoint security challenges.”
Industry-Leading Professional Security Services to Reduce Burden on IT
HP has added new groundbreaking implementation and professional services to HP Secure MPS so that companies can outsource and improve their security profile while saving valuable IT resources. New services and capabilities include:
Print Security Implementation Service— HP will provide its own specialized security support technicians to implement corporate print security plans.
Print Security Advisory Retainer Service— HP’s credentialed security advisors will deliver ongoing security expertise, risk profile updates and support to evaluate security plans on a regular basis and provide ad hoc support for compliance audits.
Print Security Governance & Compliance— HP will help meet compliance via new remote management of security settings as well as monitor the print fleet for potential issues and supply proof of compliance reporting on fleet security status.
Increased Training—HP has invested to raise the level of security expertise with MPS employees and HP technical teams with industry security certifications such as CompTIA.
Enhanced Reporting & Reviews—HP is embedding security into MPS tracking and reporting processes for greater visibility to the print fleet status and to review security best practice recommendations.
New Remote Management Tools & Services— HP’s new tools within HP MPS software automate security actions such as firmware updates and password management so companies can outsource tedious IT security actions as part of the MPS contract.
“Organizations must take proactive steps to address security concerns in the print and document infrastructure, and the managed print service (MPS) provider, like HP, should be viewed as an important partner in this endeavor,” said Robert Palmer, Research Director with IDC’s Imaging , Printing and Document Solutions team.2
Printers Now Pre-Configured for Security
HP is raising the bar for business printing by announcing that the company has started to ship printers with less-secure interfaces closed, requiring customers to open the ports and protocols if they are needed when deploying new printers on their network.
New Approach to Device Settings— HP has started the process of closing older, less-maintained interfaces including ports, protocols and cipher suites as identified by NIST as less-secure including FTP and Telnet. With HP’s November FurtureSmart firmware update, it has improved admin password and encryption settings for both new and existing HP Enterprise printers and MFPs.
Partnering with the Software Community—HP is actively working with software developers to modify their applications to utilize newer, stronger interfaces in order to close additional interfaces in the near future.
Solutions Enhancements Focus on Data, Device and Document Security
HP JetAdvantage workflow and printing solutions have been developed to streamline crucial business processes and tasks for enterprise customers – leading to reduced IT workload and costs, improved employee productivity and enabing users to print securely. The latest security enhancements include:
HP Access Control—HP Access Control provides authentication, authorization, and secure pull printing capabilities, now with improved functionality and support for SNMPv3, a new card reader compatible with HIP2 that expands card type compatibility, and the ability for users to login and logout with a simple swipe of a proximity card or smart card.
HP Capture and Route—HP Capture and Route makes it easy to control and track scanned content and distribute documents with the touch of a button. New features include support for LDAP over SSL, data at rest encryption for scanned data stored on the Capture and Route server, and MyMessages, allowing for immediate printing of user messages and faxes while standing at the MFP.
