Canon Copier Security – Is Your Hard Drive Safe?
With the ongoing development of technology, particularly in the area of office productivity, the fact that most of the multifunction centers and photocopiers on the market these days contain Hard Disk Drives (HDD's) is no surprise to anyone in the industry. Most of these people are one step ahead of the consumer market in terms of what the HDD incorporation means for end users. For those who do not understand the inclusion of an HDD in a multifunction center or photocopier, here is a simplified explanation.
When we think of a hard disk drive we normally think of a computer. We know that each computer has one, and that is where everything that we do, see and hear on the computer is stored for later retrieval. It is the main storage area of any computer, and now we find the same thing in other office machines. Of course from the aspect of what some of these modern machines can do, on board storage is required; however the inherent risks are also present.
Most people think that when something is deleted from a hard drive, that material is gone forever. This of course is not the case at all. A good computer technician and of course forensic computer experts can easily retrieve any material that has at some point been stored on the hard drive. There are of course methods for the average computer user to make all deletions permanent, but generally the majority of users have no idea how to implement such security measures. Of course the inclusion of the HDD on a multifunction center means that your sensitive data may now be stored there as well.
Canon has developed a new security system to run in conjunction with Canon machines using the imageRUNNER platform. This security for your hard disk drive can do many things, including but not limited to, guaranteeing that any data stored to the hard drive is absolutely deleted from the system when the user commands it.
There is no way that any trace can be found of sensitive data, when you are using this security measure. It also offers the ability to use HDD encryption. in fact with the security kit, all standard requirements have been met. With an add-on it is possible to configure 256-bit data encryption. This means that once any data is written to the drive, it is almost impossible for anyone without approval a means to recover that data.
With features like Certified Security, HDD Data Encryption, and HHD Erase, you would be well advised to look into the potential of your own security package. If you have not enabled your alternative security procedures to protect your HDD data, you should. Although not compatible with every Canon machine yet, there are a large number of compatible Canon office machines, that will utilize this new security feature. We all know how easy it can be for others to access our data on our computer hard drives, and the same simplicity will become commonplace with multifunction printers and photocopiers. With this Canon copier security installed in your system, you can ensure your data is too secure for removal.
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Hard Drive Shredding For Digital Copiers
Secure, Professional, and Complete Digital Information Destruction is absolutely essential in today's digital environment. It's hard to find a single device that we use on a day to day basis that doesn't contain some sensitive information about ourselves or our business.
Most of us have grown accustomed to making sure all our sensitive paper information is destroyed, but we often forget that some sort of electronic device, usually our own, produced all those documents.
In the past few weeks, CBS broke the story that copiers are going out for resale without making sure the information held on the hard drive contained within are being properly destroyed.
The news story here isn't that hard drives and other electronic media should be properly disposed of; it's rather that there was relatively little public knowledge that these copiers had hard drives in them do begin with. And what might be even scarier is that now every ID Thief looking for a quick and easy score will also be on the lookout for copiers that haven't been sanitized.
Every business, government entity, non-profit, and individual needs to be cognizant of each and every electronic device they currently use and the potential sensitive information that these devices hold. Just a few items that must be properly sanitized before disposal:
Smart Phones
Personal Computers (PC's)
Laptops
Thumb Drives
Diskettes
DVD's/CD Rom's
Copiers
Printers
Proper sanitization can be in the form of physical destruction, overwrite, or degaussing of these items. Overwriting and degaussing typically eliminate the information held on these devices while at the same time keeping the electronic device intact for future use. This is often seen as the more cost effective approach but in the end these techniques can often take a long time to complete (such as in the case of overwriting) or could be hazardous to other electronic media in the vicinity (as in the case of degaussing).
The simplest, most effective method (where the proof of proper disposal is self evident) is to destroy hard drives and other electronic media by physical means where there is very little left over that is even recognizable - much less recoverable for data.
The physical shredding of hard drives is the only method that not only destroys the drive and the information contained, but also provides the visual proof of multiple pieces so you are left with the proof you need to know your electronic data will never fall into the wrong hands.
Mike Krauss
CEO & President
Total Secure Shredding, Inc.
http://www.totalsecureshredding.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mike_Krauss
Information Technology in Crisis – Three Priorities For IT in 2010 – Part 2
As we launch into 2010, the IT industry is faced with three major challenges. What makes these so significant is they are not on the radar of most companies. In this report I will address the second challenge we, as an industry, have ignored. Although I can't provide answers, my hope for these articles is to expose the issues and launch a dialogue within the IT community as we search for answers.
Your Digital Copy Machine can't keep secrets
You'll never guess who's walking out your front door with confidential data. Yes, it's the guy who leases you your copy machine. When digital copy machines are replaced or come off lease they are wheeled out your front door with a disk-full of images that were printed, scanned, copied or faxed.
Digital copiers can't erase their hard drive so at the end of their lease, gigabytes of images inside the copier are wheeled out your front door. Newer copy machines can make the data unreadable to the copier itself but your data is still on the disk! If you happen to have a network connected digital copier, additional information is retained on the copier such as IP addresses, DNS server IP addresses, email addresses, etc.
A company called Digital Copier Security Inc (DCSI) is a pioneer in raising awareness to this security hole which exists at most companies. DCSI claims they have obtained "off lease" copy machines where they scanned the hard drives with proprietary utilities and have recovered thousands of pages of documents fully intact. Here are some examples of what they've recovered.
A complete home refinance application including applicant's full name, SSN, current employer, previous employers, bank account numbers, etc.
A Spreadsheet showing employee names and company issued credit card numbers.
Full Tax Returns
Confidential Medical records
Confidential Executive Business Reports
Over 20,000 documents were recovered from just one hard drive
You would never let a vendor walk out of your data center with an un-scrubbed hard drive but yet it is done every day with digital copiers.
Don't even think about removing the hard drive before releasing the copy machine, doing so would make the copier unusable and void your lease agreement. You would become liable for the complete cost of the copy machine. Don't expect the copy machine technician to purge the device either; they don't have the technical knowledge of where your information is stored, or how to purge it. Most technicians believe the copier is purged when the images are no longer visible to the display. Don't fall for their ignorance on this matter. Also, don't think you can push the responsibility onto the leasing company as I guarantee your lease agreement doesn't require them to provide this service.
This is one of corporate America's biggest risks, yet I haven't found any company with security policies addressing digital copiers. Most end of lease copiers are sold overseas where recipients of these copiers (and your data) are not subject to US laws.
Do you know who has your old digital copy machine and all your data that was on its hard drive?
How many digital copy machines do you have that are ready to go off lease? How will you ensure your data doesn't go off site with the copy machine? How will you ensure your competitors or hackers won't get their hands on your data through your old copier? Are you at risk of lawsuits from employees or vendors that use your copy machines? This is a security issue we cannot ignore, and it's an issue without an easy solution. The options available are limited and can be expensive for companies with multiple copiers. DCSI provides a certified disk scrubbing service. Another option is to purchase a "Security Kit" which is expensive and not user friendly. The device is so troublesome that most companies disable them over the course of time.
If your company is regulated by SOX, GLB, HIPAA, FERPA or FTC Red Flags, a breach can be construed once your digital copier leaves your possession and control. Considering the costs of fines, penalties, sanctions, public notification, credit monitoring, and damage to a corporate image. Careful purging of these machines should be a top priority for every company.
As you can see from this series, IT has three pressing challenges; Old paradigms that cripple businesses, digital copier security and our "part 3" topic in the final article of this series. These challenges are easily ignored and have been to this day. However, ignoring these challenges only puts your business at continued risk of pending crisis. In 2010 we must take steps to limit our exposure with answers to these challenges. As I mentioned earlier, my intent is to open the door to further dialogue. Let us consider the door now wide open. I encourage you to propose your ideas and join me in a discussion on this topic.
John Bagdanov
Founder and Chief Advisor at IT Answers 4U
John has been in IT for almost 30 years and has supported numerous clients. His IT Leadership experience spans from formal IT leadership to leading world-wide technology projects.
At IT Answers 4U we provide free content on our web site and a fee based Advising service that enables companies to run effective IT departments
Visit our site for:
Free Information
Free answers to your IT questions
Free 1 hour consultation
For more information about John and IT Answers 4U visit our web site at http://www.itanswers4u.com.
If you missed Part 1 of this series you can find it posted at our web site or on the EzineArticles web site.
For more information about this Security threat, take a look at the following news video done by an investigative reporter: http://copiersecurity.com/about-us/company-news/82-cbs-news-13-story.html
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Bagdanov
Digital Copier Security – There’s More to Overcome Than Just the Hard Drive
The CBS Evening news recently broadcast a story called "Copy Machines a Security Risk?" The information presented in the story was alarming to say the least but CBS only scratched the surface of the topic. For companies who rely on securing confidential and proprietary information from competitors or hackers, there's much more you need to know about the inconspicuous digital copier. In this article we'll look at five areas where confidential information may be compromised.
If you haven't seen the CBS story please click on this link at the bottom of this page and view the five minute broadcast before you continue with this article.
In addition to the risks presented by the CBS story here are 5 additional areas where copiers can compromise your security.
1. Many digital copiers are also network printers that store network information such as IP addresses, subnet masks and gateway IP's. These settings are not stored on the hard drive and are not cleared by the digital copier "Purge" feature. Network settings must be manually cleared. Security experts will tell you to keep your network configuration private. You don't want competitors or hackers to know your internal network configuration. The more information about your network infrastructure that's accessible to hackers the less they have to figure out on their own and the sooner they can compromise your network.
2. Many digital copiers store the IP addresses of your DNS servers and/or Domain controllers. Depending on the type and model of your copier, this information may not be cleared by your copier "purge" function. You definitely don't want competitors or hackers knowing the IP addresses of your Name Servers or Domain Controllers.
3. Many digital copiers store email addresses and some even download your entire Email Global Address List to the copier. Again, you don't want this to be accessible to those outside your company.
4. The "purge" function used by older digital copy machines doesn't delete any data from the copier hard drive. It only renders the data inaccessible to the copier software. It either deletes a file we techies would call a "file allocation table" or it will use other tactics to render the data unreadable to the copier software. The "Purge" button merely gives an allusion the disk has been cleaned. However, the data is still there and can be removed as shown on the CBS story. Most copier security policies rely on this built-in Purge function and think their data is cleared. It is not cleared. It can still be accessed with free scanning tools available on the internet.
5. If your copier has a fax capability, the copier also stores all the phone numbers it dialed and numbers that dialed it along with any information you provided in your Fax phone book. Again, the "Purge" function will not clear this information.
One of the biggest obstacles surrounding this whole issue of Copier Security is the apathy and ignorance of the Manufacturers. Most copier technicians today still believe the built-in Purge function deletes all information on the copier. To make matters worse, most copier technicians don't know where the different type of information is stored. Some data is stored on the hard drive, some data in flash memory, and some data is stored in firmware. Sensitive information is stored in different places depending on the manufacturer and model of copier. Just when you think it can't get worse. Let me drop the final shoe. There are no utilities that will scan a copier and certify that it has been completely purged for older digital copy machines.
As I mentioned earlier, this CBS news story only scratched the surface of the real risks associated with digital Copier Security. The Copier Security pioneers who were interviewed in the CBS story, Digital Copier Security inc., have done extensive research on these security risks and are working to provide services and resources to help companies thoroughly purge their older copy machines. I applaud Digital Copier Security for bringing this issue to the attention of Corporate America and for working diligently to address this significant security hole.
I encourage the Copier industry to take responsibility for ensuring new copiers have the capability to purge themselves of all sensitive information and to provide a certification report indicating what has been purged. This should be a standard feature on all Digital Copiers and not an add-on feature that comes at an additional cost. Additionally copier technicians should be trained to thoroughly purge all Digital Copiers.
Until such a time, Corporate America must take necessary steps to ensure their own safety. They must ensure they are not exposing themselves to unnecessary security risks or even breaking Privacy Laws. Digital copiers must have processes defined (and documented) that ensure appropriate actions are taken before copiers are released to third parties.
Here's the link to the CBS Story
www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6412572n&tag=api
John Bagdanov
Founder and Chief Advisor at IT Answers 4U
John has been in IT for almost 30 years and has supported numerous clients. His IT Leadership experience spans from formal IT leadership to leading world-wide technology projects.
At IT Answers 4U we provide free content on our web site and a fee based Advising service that teaches companies how to run effective IT departments
Visit our site for:
Free Information
Free answers to your IT questions
Free 1 hour consultation
For more information about John and IT Answsers 4U visit our web site at http://www.itanswers4u.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Bagdanov
Digital Copier Security – There’s More to Overcome Than Just the Hard Drive
The CBS Evening news recently broadcast a story called "Copy Machines a Security Risk?" The information presented in the story was alarming to say the least but CBS only scratched the surface of the topic. For companies who rely on securing confidential and proprietary information from competitors or hackers, there's much more you need to know about the inconspicuous digital copier. In this article we'll look at five areas where confidential information may be compromised.
If you haven't seen the CBS story please click on this link at the bottom of this page and view the five minute broadcast before you continue with this article.
In addition to the risks presented by the CBS story here are 5 additional areas where copiers can compromise your security.
1. Many digital copiers are also network printers that store network information such as IP addresses, subnet masks and gateway IP's. These settings are not stored on the hard drive and are not cleared by the digital copier "Purge" feature. Network settings must be manually cleared. Security experts will tell you to keep your network configuration private. You don't want competitors or hackers to know your internal network configuration. The more information about your network infrastructure that's accessible to hackers the less they have to figure out on their own and the sooner they can compromise your network.
2. Many digital copiers store the IP addresses of your DNS servers and/or Domain controllers. Depending on the type and model of your copier, this information may not be cleared by your copier "purge" function. You definitely don't want competitors or hackers knowing the IP addresses of your Name Servers or Domain Controllers.
3. Many digital copiers store email addresses and some even download your entire Email Global Address List to the copier. Again, you don't want this to be accessible to those outside your company.
4. The "purge" function used by older digital copy machines doesn't delete any data from the copier hard drive. It only renders the data inaccessible to the copier software. It either deletes a file we techies would call a "file allocation table" or it will use other tactics to render the data unreadable to the copier software. The "Purge" button merely gives an allusion the disk has been cleaned. However, the data is still there and can be removed as shown on the CBS story. Most copier security policies rely on this built-in Purge function and think their data is cleared. It is not cleared. It can still be accessed with free scanning tools available on the internet.
5. If your copier has a fax capability, the copier also stores all the phone numbers it dialed and numbers that dialed it along with any information you provided in your Fax phone book. Again, the "Purge" function will not clear this information.
One of the biggest obstacles surrounding this whole issue of Copier Security is the apathy and ignorance of the Manufacturers. Most copier technicians today still believe the built-in Purge function deletes all information on the copier. To make matters worse, most copier technicians don't know where the different type of information is stored. Some data is stored on the hard drive, some data in flash memory, and some data is stored in firmware. Sensitive information is stored in different places depending on the manufacturer and model of copier. Just when you think it can't get worse. Let me drop the final shoe. There are no utilities that will scan a copier and certify that it has been completely purged for older digital copy machines.
As I mentioned earlier, this CBS news story only scratched the surface of the real risks associated with digital Copier Security. The Copier Security pioneers who were interviewed in the CBS story, Digital Copier Security inc., have done extensive research on these security risks and are working to provide services and resources to help companies thoroughly purge their older copy machines. I applaud Digital Copier Security for bringing this issue to the attention of Corporate America and for working diligently to address this significant security hole.
I encourage the Copier industry to take responsibility for ensuring new copiers have the capability to purge themselves of all sensitive information and to provide a certification report indicating what has been purged. This should be a standard feature on all Digital Copiers and not an add-on feature that comes at an additional cost. Additionally copier technicians should be trained to thoroughly purge all Digital Copiers.
Until such a time, Corporate America must take necessary steps to ensure their own safety. They must ensure they are not exposing themselves to unnecessary security risks or even breaking Privacy Laws. Digital copiers must have processes defined (and documented) that ensure appropriate actions are taken before copiers are released to third parties.
Here's the link to the CBS Story
www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6412572n&tag=api
John Bagdanov
Founder and Chief Advisor at IT Answers 4U
John has been in IT for almost 30 years and has supported numerous clients. His IT Leadership experience spans from formal IT leadership to leading world-wide technology projects.
At IT Answers 4U we provide free content on our web site and a fee based Advising service that teaches companies how to run effective IT departments
Visit our site for:
Free Information
Free answers to your IT questions
Free 1 hour consultation
For more information about John and IT Answsers 4U visit our web site at http://www.itanswers4u.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Bagdanov