Research from Sharp shows that unsecured printers have been the cause of cyber-attacks for one-fifth of European SMBs, and for one half of public sector organisations.
Despite the office printer being an under the radar weak spot for cyber-attacks like phishing, malware, and computer viruses, fewer than a quarter of UK SMBs report educating their employees about either scanner or printer security.
Sharp reports that the most common printer vulnerabilities which lead to the attacks are the use of default passwords, unsecured network connections, and outdated firmware.
The advice to SMBs is to keep software for scanners and printers updated, regularly back up data, and to encourage a consistent security policy across teams working from multiple locations.