Interview: Multifunction printers advance with security

IT Week: As product manager for printer specialist Ricoh UK, can you explain how firms’ demands are changing?
Bernard Cassidy: A big demand we're responding to is for security, because products have moved from being the copier in the corner to a solutions box. You can do the same things on a printer or multifunction device [MFD] as you can on a PC; documents can be stored on a hard disk and can be sent out to anywhere in the world [from the networked MFD] and it's about controlling the risks involved in that. People are also looking for more control over how PDFs are scanned so only those with the correct passwords can alter them, so we're putting the same restrictions [on editing PDFs] on the MFD that you find on PCs because it's important to IT managers that the multifunction printers are as safe as their PCs.

So printers are now the IT manager's responsibility?
Yes, because many printers now sit on the network, and in a lot of cases IT departments purchase the equipment as well, so they have responsibility from purchasing and control to stopping information leaks from their printers. This means locking down machines so users have to authenticate and deciding if the information that is sent to be copied is stored or deleted straight afterwards, because what's to stop people using or forwarding that information in an incorrect way?

Are these security principles the same on printers and more advanced MFDs? Yes, the majority have a hard disk drive and users log onto the machine in the same way. A lot of customers are looking at ways to authenticate in order to release the print drop, whether scanning or printing a document. There are different levels of authentication that we offer, from simple authentication user code, to the Windows authentication code or Ldap. And some customers are looking at using a swipe card for authentication rather than a password and user name. This improves security because it means the printer will only release the job when the user is at the machine.

Are there other trends that make the new generation of MFDs more vulnerable to security problems?
People are now moving to centralised printers or MFDs because they have become more efficient, and a byproduct of this has been the gap between the time a document is printed and when the user collects the document. There are also capabilities to allow a user to send a document to a machine and then print it out at a later date, but what's to stop another user printing it out first? So customers are looking for solutions to ensure that only the person who prints out can view the document. There is also a lot of paper wastage with centralised printers because users forget to collect their documents.

Are there higher levels of security required by certain sectors?
Yes. Government is very different from the private sector – government organisations by default want hard disk data protection but in office environments the critical issue is the confidentiality of printed and scanned documents. Some IT departments want more control so they only allow scanned documents to be sent internally, or only to people on the mail server.

About Bernard Cassidy

Bernard Cassidy joined printer specialist Ricoh in 2002 and is product manager with responsibility for managing the marketing of security hardware and software products, black and white printers (in the 45-75ppm sector) and low-end document management software. He is also instrumental in managing decentralised host printing solutions.

Previously he has worked as a sales training officer advising the sales team on the key aspects of Ricoh’s hardware and software systems.

Before joining Ricoh, Bernard worked in IT recruitment after graduating from Plymouth University in 1999 with a degree in Business Studies.

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