OfficeWare Blog

Security is obviously a part of how we work. This begins as soon as we walk into the office every morning, probably passing through a level of security.

Once you are at your desk it is likely you log in to a computer and access files over a secure server. This entire process can include everything from security badges and ID cards to network firewalls and software security. It may seem like an organization has taken every measure to protect its property, people and data.

Yet many organizations fail to extend their security policies and procedures to include printing and imaging. This can be a problem because organizations face increased threats to their data. According to a recent study by Ernst & Young, 41% of respondents noticed an increase in external attacks and 25% saw an increase in internal attacks over the last year.

Even if you haven’t experienced a breach in your printing and imaging security, it does not necessarily mean your environment is secure. Printing systems can be compromised in a variety of ways-from document and hardware theft to unauthorized changes of settings or use of multifunctional devices. The cost of even one security breach has the potential to be devastating.

Companies like Konica Minolta have introduced new technologies that not only intensify but also simplify printing and imaging security issues.

One level of security can be achieved with a magnetic card reader. The card reader connects to a multifunctional device via a USB port and is easy to use. It prevents unauthorized multifunctional device access and protects documents from being released until the user swipes their magnetic card through the reader at the printer. It also eliminates the need to enter a user name and password. Swiping the card is all that is needed to release the documents.

Biometrics can also be used in the authentication process. It enables a user to connect to their multifunctional device by a biometric finger vein reader. A special biometric authentication unit recognizes a unique finger vein character when the user places a finger on the device. This also eliminates the need to enter a user name and password and takes the process to a higher level.

Sophisticated common access cards also provide a very high level of security. Designed to coincide with the technically aggressive requirements put forth by the Department of Defense these cards can be combined to provide users with not only building and location access, but also printer access. By simply placing a card near the “reader” copying, scanning and faxing functions can be completed. The user sends the print job to a multifunctional device where it is held on the hard drive until the user is physically in front of the device. The job is released when the user’s card is again “read” in front of the printer.  Documents are released without any interaction. This type of method eliminates the need for multiple access cards.

Konica Minolta is even working on a new technology, the Body Area Network (BAN) Smart Card, which will utilize a sensor and a smart card to provide access to doors, buildings, computers and multifunctional devices without any “hands on” action. This technology will soon be available.

Government agencies, healthcare organizations, law firms and other businesses dealing with sensitive information should consider utilizing a high level of authentication for the printing process.  The goal is to avoid any potential breach and ensure all of your network printers meet the highest levels of safety and security.

Posted December 8, 2011 by Scott Cullen, editor and publisher of The Week In Imaging.

Security has been a standard in Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc’s bizhub MFPs from day one, while most other manufacturers offered it as an option. Having predicted future security vulnerabilities in the digital imaging industry, Konica Minolta has remained ahead of the curve and continues to improve its efforts with enhancements such as its latest bizhub Secure, which released in July of this year. 

Some years ago, several manufacturers offered security as an option, and some companies still charge for security options today. Before a story on CBS came out last year that uncovered security breaches on used MFPs, some enterprises didn’t even want security because it cost about $500 to $800 to install. After that story broke, customers were asking for hard drive security kits, and companies were scrambling to find those security kits for their customers, according to Chris Bilello, director business development with Konica Minolta.

“Customers shouldn’t have to pay for security.  Security in the MFPs should come from the factory and that’s our best policy,” he adds.

Konica Minolta’s bizhub Secure is a professional service that helps customers setup passwords and other security measures such as hard drive encryption, hard drive lock password, automatic deletion of temporary image data, and data overwrite of electronic documents on a timed basis. It was created when customers who didn’t have the infrastructure, the bandwidth, or the resources to configure their machines started to ask for some sort of lockdown of the hard drive. So, they asked if Konica Minolta could provide them a service. As a result, the masterminds at Konica Minolta put together a program that would assure very minimal risk once the functions were enabled. Thus, bizhub Secure was born.

Well before the CBS story aired, more knowledgeable customers were asking Konica Minolta for documentation on how to lockdown their hard drives, and Konica Minolta had full disclosure, step-by -step documentation on how to do it. However, most people didn’t think their copier or MFP was at risk at the time. Now they’re starting to get it, he says.

Konica Minolta has managed to face and blast security challenges head on and never remains complacent, but customer demands are becoming more difficult to fulfill. For instance, MFP customers are asking for the same security that is normally enabled on a computer or laptop, however, developing the same software or functions as a computer is not easy because there is not a common platform to work from. Security on a computer involves applications as opposed to the embedded operating systems on MFPs, which are becoming more customizable. Basically, what would be developed in 90 days as an application in a Windows PC could take six months to a year to develop with a similar application on an MFP, Bilello explains.

“The challenge is to continuously keep up and enhance the security and services that will be required tomorrow and five to 10 years down the road,” he adds. “We accomplish that by listening to our customers, making sure we’re not resting on what we have today but continuously getting feedback from planning people in Japan on how to enhance security going forward.”

Meanwhile, his message to channel partners is that Konica Minolta has the technology, products, services, and collateral educational materials to help them confidently go walk into any type of customer, even the most demanding customers related to security, and confidently place equipment in those environments to make sure that the customer is secure and comfortable knowing that what happened in that CBS story cannot happen to their customer.

BAN Smart Card

For obvious reasons, Konica Minolta’s security system has been a major selling point for the company since its inception. And new and emerging technology keeps the company on top of its game. For instance, the Body Area Network (BAN) Smart Card, developed in conjunction with Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd., will consist of access to doors, buildings, computers and MFPs via a sensor and a smart card that doesn’t require any hands on action. Not available in the open market yet, this technology will most likely be valuable in industries like healthcare.

In a situation where you would need access to specific areas in a building such as a surgeon or nurse entering an emergency room, that person might not be able to grab their badge to place against a sensor because they’re carrying charts and instruments. In this case, the professional would have a badge hanging around his or her neck and would just need to step on a mat or walk up to the door where there is a sensor either built into the mat or into the wall that reads the badge and allows access to the room. This technology is being developed and is in discussion with a major vendor in the physical door and building access arena to determine the best way to develop and market it, and bring it to fruition. 

“With our various security functions and the whole umbrella of security, whether it be services or specific features built into the MFPs, they are designed to service all markets,” says Bilello.

Future Focus

As for future developments, Konica Minolta is working on enhancing bizhub Secure even further. They’re looking to do even more than protect the hard drive from a services perspective. As far as technology, there are different things that are going to be released and talked about in early 2012. Although not able to comment on specifics just yet, Bilello promises “New and exciting things that are particularly related to how [Konica Minolta] conforms to high level government stringent requirement s regarding they’re security technology.”

To learn more about Konica Minolta’s bizhub Secure visit: http://kmbs.konicaminolta.us/content/about/news/konica-minolta-enhances-mfp-security-with-bizhub-secure.html