What about the Hard Drive in Your Printer?

In many cases, vital data may be stored on the internal printer hard drive. It's an easy security hole to overlook.

JJ Bender, a leading provider of high-volume digital printing solutions, announced this month their hard drive security program for companies looking to protect sensitive data and prevent copier-related crimes such as identity theft.

Recent news reports, such as those seen on CBS Evening news, have highlighted the dangers of copier and printer hard drives, particularly the growing number of cases where machines are resold or returned on lease, only to have the hard drives removed, and critical data extracted.

"Like a computer, the internal hard drive on a digital printer stores a copy of everything you print or photocopy, and this security risk is often overlooked by major companies," says Jeffrey Bender, President of JJ Bender.

JJ Bender's hard drive security program protects sensitive data by destroying hard drives in three ways, all of which are compliant with the most recent data erasure policies, such as DOD 5220-22M. Options for hard drive protection include software overwrite, physical destruction, or reformatting the drives.

Doc hadn't really thought about the data stored in printers and bets you may not have either. But whether you hire a service like JJ Bender, do it yourself, or rely on your Managed Print Services provider, you should be sure the data stored in printer hard drives is erased to the same standards as any other critical company information.