HARD DRIVE DATA INFORMATION   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Apr 21, 2010 – United Business Systems Inc. Buffalo,NY have been aware of the security threat posed by  digital photocopiers for many years and have been providing a full data wipe on all machines before they are resold or sent to auction. John Kerling of UBSWNY says “we are pleased this issue has been brought to the attention of consumers by CBS. UBSWNY has been proactively protecting our customers information for years, but until recently have been unaware that this was not a common practice among other vendors”.   UBSWNY would like to share some useful information on securing your photocopier data throughout the life of the copier, not just the end of life. Identity Theft Avoid copying sensitive information on public photocopiers. The information could be retrieved from the hard drive. Hard Drives Hard Drives are packed full of sensitive information. From incoming faxes, id protected print jobs to frequently used files. Multifunctional digital copiers have a data encryption facility and hard disk data encryption should be enabled. Additionally Secure Document Release retains the document until identity is verified via a PIN, password. Delete all information on hard drive at end of copier’s life. The Print Server The first digital photocopiers used print servers as the connection between the digital photocopier and the network and IT Departments were well aware of the information stored there. Today many high volume or color photocopiers still use print servers. But with modern digital photocopiers often the print server (hard drive) is embedded in the machine and it is the hard drive part of the machine that may hold the most vital information. In a remote print server like a fiery it will contain a copy of the print job on its internal hard drive so enable encryption an wipe hard drive of the print server at the end of the copier cycle of life. Often large Companies route all print requests through a central server, this allows data archiving to be achieved efficiently and the central server may be remote. In such cases the digital copier can contain network addresses of the companies central server including subnet mask, ipaddress and passwords. The Print Server should be cleared of all information at the end of the copiers life. Scanning The machine may hold data on individual workstations and passwords. Machines with scan to email will hold private email addresses of individuals within the corporation or organization. All scanner and email information should be removed. Print Queue Often held in the RAM of the machine pending print jobs can contain sensitive information. Often the digital copier is replaced due to unreliability and by simply clearing a paper jam the machine can start printing out a wealth of information. Clear all pending print jobs. Fax A list of fax numbers transmission times dates and received documents may be stored on a multifunction photocopier. Delete all fax information at the end of copier’s life. Passwords Machines set up for multiple user accounts will have common passwords stored. Unfortunately these passwords may be used in other areas of the business. A print out of photocopier passwords could lead to a more serious threat to security if passwords are used elsewhere within the organization. All passwords should be removed at the end of the photocopiers life. Many used photocopiers are destined for foreign counties and it is important to ensure secure information is removed from the machine. If you have concerns about the security of your office equipment you please contact United Business Systems UBSWNY Offers a wide range of office technology solutions including multifunction copiers, faxes, printers, network scanners, wide format devices, and software solutions. ·

Protect your network-attached copier Here are some tips for protecting your copier (from aiim.org): User authentication: Setting copiers to require passwords can keep non-employees out. Permissions authentication: Copiers can be set to require passwords for certain applications, as a network-attached PC can be configured for the same. Document encryption: This can help protect sensitive or confidential information before it is sent across the network. Secure deletion of temporary files: Newer, digital copiers store copied images on an internal hard drive. Setting the copier to delete these files can prevent access of sensitive information to unauthorized people. Activity tracking: Copiers can be set to track what is being copied or sent, who is copying it, and when. Timed logout: The copier can be set to log users out when they've been inactive - preventing the next user from sending or storing documents under the previous user's identity.