Report reveals more than half of respondents have found sensitive documents on shared printers

Resellers are missing out on a lucrative market in the secure printing application space, according to analyst firm IDC.

In a report commissioned by Canon, the analyst revealed that 53 per cent of respondents claimed to have found other people’s sensitive documents on their shared printer. Forty per cent found confidential company reports, 24 per cent found private company financial data and 18 per cent found personnel records including private home addresses, mobile phone numbers and salary information.

“These are startling results and show that businesses need to do more to protect the security of sensitive information around the office," said Glen Mason, marketing manager, Canon UK. "Personal Mailbox, PIN codes, swipe cards, and even biometrics in the form of finger print recognition can help businesses eliminate security concerns relating to leaving documents on shared printers.”

Mason added that using secure printing applications such as PIN codes and swipe cards on multi-functional devices also has the knock-on effect of monitoring and controlling printing within the organisation.”

Geoff Hogg, enterprise marketing manager for Hewlett Packard's (HP) Imaging and Printing Group, said: "Security at the printer is a crucial issue and one that many businesses do not give enough consideration to. HP offers a number of solutions that are focused on 'pull printing' to ensure that printing output remains secure.”

Hogg said pull printing means a document will wait on the print server instead of the output tray, until a user can authenticate themselves at the printer.

David Gould, trading director at PCWB, added: "I applaud the added security features available for all pieces of technology, not just printers. The provision of PIN codes or fingerprint recognition enables print on demand and it also enables companies to monitor who is printing what."