D I S S E C T I N G B U S I N E S S

Mark Chillingworth , European Technology Leadership Writer , Editor and Founder , Horizon CIO Network

In the clamour and hype surrounding plans to digitally transform organisations , output security is all too often forgotten . Output is perceived as not being part of digitisation , yet vital business processes rely on both physical and digital outputs . Therefore , output , in all its forms , requires the same high levels of security strategy as pure digital processes such as e-commerce and data security – both of which rely on output management .

“ The first thing you get done as a healthcare patient at check-in is that you receive a wristband ,” explains Guy Tucker , Solutions Architect at LRS . That wristband is printed on the spot and features unique information linked to that individual patient . Digitisation has changed and improved a wealth of business processes , but the need for physical and digital output remains in many vertical markets . This is as true when it comes to labelling boxes of goods a business has prepared for distribution as it is when identifying samples in a laboratory or meeting accessibility needs for customers and peers .

Output and print management has remained a central tenet of business as it is costeffective . RFID tags are expensive and erode the profit margin of manufacturers struggling with record levels of inflation . Output management is about more than printing , too . Creating a PDF lading document removes hardcopy printing but still requires the same levels of output management as corporate printing .

Digital vulnerabilities

If output management is not considered part of an organisation ' s Digital Transformation – and therefore its cybersecurity strategy – then vulnerabilities arise . In 2023 , vulnerabilities in output technologies led to authentication backdoors into organisations , opening up technology estates to SQL injection and cross-site scripting risks . One vulnerability exposed organisations to 18 different threat types . Other vulnerabilities have exposed enterprises to service-side request forgery . This is at a time when the annual Digital Leadership Report , a report based on a survey of senior technology decision-makers , cites that 52 % of large organisations have suffered a major cybersecurity attack in the last two years .

“ Cyber incidents can have severe impacts on organisations of all sizes , both in the short and longer term , from causing reputational damage to grinding operations to a halt ,” said Lindy Cameron , CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre ( NCSC ), the UK government ' s cybersecurity force .

“ With incidents on the rise , it is vital organisations work with their suppliers to identify supply chain risks and ensure appropriate security measures are in place ,” adds Ian McCormack , NCSC Deputy Director for Government Cyber Resilience . Complex supply chains are a fact of modern business , and they rely on output technologies to share and verify information .

Guy Tucker of LRS believes part of the problem is that output is considered a utility , and organisations and their people are unaware of the risks . “ If you have a report that has to be printed , then that can be an open data stream and open data streams must be authenticated ,” he said . Technology analyst house Gartner found in 2022 that 69 % of employees bypass the cybersecurity guidance of their organisation and 74 % will willingly bypass cybersecurity in order to get their jobs done . Output technologies , if not effectively managed , can allow employees to bypass security rules and place the organisation at risk .

Don ' t overlook output

When output management is often not considered part of the cybersecurity guidance , the threat vector increases . Tucker said output management is all too often overlooked as organisations plan and implement cloud computing strategies . “ An output device is a computer . It is no less powerful than a laptop , so there is a new point of ingress into the network .”

CIO Jevern Partridge agrees : “ People don ' t think about print security until they have a leak due to something being printed on the wrong device .” Tucker adds that the leak of pop star Britney Spears ' medical records from the UCLA Medical Center in the USA back in 2008 should have been a wake-up

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