Quocirca Reports Rising Concerns over Print Security

Quocirca reports in its latest landscape report that enterprises are placing increasing attention on print security of their infrastructure as risks continue to rise.

67% decision makers from the UK, US and Europe surveyed reported that their organization has experienced at least one print-related data breach in the past year, which was up from 61% in 2023. The average cost to cope with one single breach topped at £1,028,346, increased by 38% compared to last year.

Ms. Louella Fernandes, CEO, Quocirca comments, “Print infrastructure security has often been regarded as lower priority than other aspects of cybersecurity. However, our latest study indicates growing awareness of the vulnerabilities associated with hybrid and remote printing as breach frequency and costs rise. Concerns about employee-owned home printers now rank second on the IT security breach list, with office printing in third position. Last year, these issues ranked ninth and eighth, respectively.”

Ever-declining Confidence

Only 16% of IT decision makers are completely confident with their print infrastructure security, marking a third consecutive year of decline from 22% since 2022. Printing environments also affect how users perceive their print security, with 58% confident with office print environments, and only 47% with home or remote printing.

The growth of no-confidence urges users to take measures in response. About 70% organizations will increase expenses in strengthening print security in the next year. For home workers, most companies have chosen either to provide authorized printers with guaranteed security or monitor their usage for audit purposes.

Uncertain Help from AI

To cope with potential cyberattacks within the print network, AI is suggested to be applied to detect threats, which is supported more by managed print service users and companies with crucial printing demands. However, 62% IT decision makers reported that the use of AI may even deteriorate these issues.

“Organisations that are highly dependent on print demonstrate their acute awareness of the impact AI could have in it,” says Louella. “There is an important role here for vendors and channel partners to ensure their messages around AI opportunities and risks are robust and reassuring in equal measure.”

Underrated Standardized Service

Users of managed print services report a much higher satisfaction rate than those who do not, and organizations using standardized print fleets also claimed a lower susceptibility to external attacks than those operating with multiple vendors. Despite all these, more companies still prefer to operate a mixed fleet and expect to deploy more on-premise servers in the future.

Louella continues: “Alongside a lack of standardisation we are also seeing organisations reticent about moving to cloud print management, with cited reasons including security concerns, perceived lack of functionality, and cost. These should all be easy for channel partners to overcome, but it seems clear that a complex, multi-vendor, hybrid cloud print environment is the prevailing approach right now, making management more difficult.”

Source: RTM World

Covered By: Imaging Solution / Quocirca

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