Monica Hamilton
As Director of SMB Product and Solutions Marketing at McAfee, Monica is responsible for driving McAfee’s SMB ...
The office has changed drastically over the years with the advancements in technology. Colleagues from across the globe can video conference with the click of the mouse and data is available with a simple search. With such conveniences come great risks. As more and more devices across an office and network are connected, sensitive business and customer data can become vulnerable to fraudsters. And, it isn’t just -enterprises that need to be concerned; SMB owners need to understand the risks as well.
Across the globe, SMB owners have been securing their networks in a variety of ways. However, most SMB owners using connected office equipment still do not grasp the severity of deploying unprotected devices, and those that do, struggle to implement secure practice for all devices.
The most overlooked office devices that are not typically connected to broader security strategies include copiers, printers, fax machines and multi-function printers (MFPs). In a recent Xerox-McAfee study, it was revealed that 50 perfect of employees whose workplace has a printer, copier or MFP say they’ve copied, scanned or printed confidential information at work. Where does that data go once the job is completed? Where does it go when a copier or printer is recycled or resold? Sensitive employee and company data can fall into the hands of cybercriminals.
Most employee’s think their computers pose the biggest security threat to their company’s network compared to other IT devices, while only 6 percent say it is MFPs. This small percentage is proof that employees simply do not realize their office MFPs really are networked devices that are vulnerable to hacks just like their PCs. Combine these stats with the fact that the average organizational cost of a data breach is $5.5 million and you have a pretty strong argument for taking this warning seriously.[1]
And, what exactly are the repercussions from such a breach? The severity of such breaches range from financial losses to legal consequences to brand reputation damage. With security threats on the rise, SMBs have a growing desire to secure and manage their connected devices.
McAfee recommends that SMBs take these simple steps to protect themselves from being easy targets for cybercriminals:
To read or download the full Xerox-McAfee study, click here http://www.mcafee.com/us/resources/case-studies/cs-xerox.pdf
For more information on SMB security solutions, click here http://www.mcafee.com/us/small-business/smb-security-solutions.aspx
[1] VDC Research Group, Inc., CASE STUDY- McAfee & Xerox: A Partnership for Extending Endpoint Protection to Intelligent Devices, 2012
Tags: intellectual property, IP, SMB security, Xerox
Submit your own comments / message for this post