YOU’LL NEED THIS WEB-CONNECTED PRINTER

Time required: 30 minutes

ANY DEVICE THAT CAN connect to the internet needs to be kept secure. This is as true for printers as it is for laptops, phones, and tablets. Printers are increasingly becoming fullyfeatured online devices that download their own updates automatically, report how much ink you’re using, and if you have signed up for a subscription or membership scheme, order new cartridges just before your current ones run out.

All of this makes life easier for you, but it also means you must add your printer to the list of devices you need to consider when assessing the security of your network. Fortunately, bigname printer manufacturers have a vested interest in keeping them safe. They don’t want to risk the reputational damage of being associated with a widespread security breach and they wouldn’t want to risk losing customers and the ink sales that go with them.

For the most part, then, as long as your printer is properly set up, it’s probably safe. But that doesn’t mean you should sit back and hand over responsibility for your network’s protection to its manufacturer. Here, we’ll guide you through the process of checking that your printer isn’t a security risk, and explain how to keep it that way. –

NIK RAWLINSON

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1FIND YOUR PRINTER’S CONTROL PANEL

While you can typically perform basic configuration tasks using a printer’s screen, connected devices usually have a far more advanced and flexible online dashboard that you access through a browser. There are two ways to find it—one is to check the machine’s IP address using any onboard screen and buttons. We’re using an HP Envy 5030 Wi-Fi-connected printer as our example. The precise instructions you need to follow will depend on your model, but the principles will be the same.