Safety has always been of the upmost importance to schools, both in keeping students, teachers, and staff physically safe as well as keeping data and information protected. In today’s digital age, schools are increasingly reliant on technology, which includes their printers and copiers. While printing may seem like a simple task, it presents unique security challenges and environmental concerns. Schools manage sensitive data daily, including student records, staff information, and administrative documents. Without proper safeguards, this information is vulnerable to breaches, leading to potential financial loss, identity theft, or compromised reputations. In fact, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the financial impact of a cybersecurity breach for school districts ranges from $50,000 to $1 million per incident. Implementing secure printing practices helps mitigate these risks and can significantly enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and bolster overall school security.
Why Secure Printing Practices in Schools Matter
IT security within K-12 schools is usually standard when it comes to monitoring network access. However, often overlooked is the print environment. Schools are frequent targets for data breaches due to the variety of personal and financial information they store. Especially if your school uses cloud-enabled network printing via the internet, this creates a huge vulnerability within school systems for data breaches by hackers. In an effort to bring attention to the vulnerability of unsecured network printers, cybersecurity experts were able to breach 28,000 unsecured printers. With a 56% hit rate across 800,000 vulnerable devices, 447,000 could have been successfully hacked.
Many schools currently lack the IT infrastructure to detect or prevent unauthorized access to their print devices effectively. Implementing secure printing practices reduce these security risks through:
- Increasing Data Protection: Sensitive student information, such as grades, medical records, and personal details, can be inadvertently printed and left unsecured.
- Preventing Security Breaches: Unauthorized access to printers can enable malicious activities, such as data theft and network intrusions.
What’s more, implementing secure printing practices can also bring about other benefits in addition to a more secure print environment, including:
- Improving Cost Control: Uncontrolled printing can lead to excessive supplies usage, significantly impacting school budgets.
- Reducing Waste: Uncontrolled/unmonitored printing often means unnecessary and forgotten print jobs.
- Minimizing Environmental Impact: Excessive printing contributes to deforestation and environmental pollution.
Implementing Secure Printing Practices in Schools
So now we’ve covered why secure printing practices matter in schools, and it all sounds great. But how do we go about actually implementing secure printing practices to bring about these benefits and changes?
It all starts with a good print management software solution.
Today’s print management software solutions offer an array of features that schools should be implementing into their everyday printing practices in order enhance document/printer security and streamline operations including:
- User Authentication: Requiring users to log in via PIN, ID badge, or biometric verification ensures that only authorized individuals can retrieve print jobs.
- Secure Release Printing: Also referred to as pull printing or follow-me printing, with secure print release print jobs are held in a queue until the user is physically present at the printer, minimizing the chance of documents being left unattended.
- Audit Trails: Comprehensive logging of all print activity helps identify misuse and track printing costs by department or user.
- Quota Management: Schools can set limits on print volumes to encourage responsible usage and help prevent excessive printing, thus minimizing wasteful printing and reducing operational costs.
- Data Encryption: Sensitive documents are encrypted during transmission to prevent interception or unauthorized access.
- Remote Management: IT administrators can monitor and manage devices from a central dashboard, ensuring consistent security policies across all locations.
How to Get Started with Implementing Secure Printing Practices in Schools
Okay, so now we know why secure printing practices matter and that in order to implement these secure printing practices we’ll need to invest in a good print management software. But how does one get started? Here are five steps to follow to get started with implementing secure printing practices in schools:
1. Assess: It all begins by conducting a print assessment/audit to analyze your current printing habits, identify areas of concern, and gain a better understanding of the impact of uncontrolled printing throughout your school.
2. Evaluate: Next, you’ll want to choose your print management software by evaluating different software options based on your specific needs and budget. Consider software options like Papercut or Tungsten Equitrac (formerly Kofax) which are specifically designed for educational environments.
3. Define: You’ll next need to establish clear guidelines and policies for secure printing, utilizing the features of your print management software to do so.
4. Educate: It’s incredibly important to train all print users on the importance of secure printing practices and how to properly use the new print management software for it to be effective.
5. Monitor/Review: Continuously monitor printing activity, whether this be on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis. Look at things like how much your users are printing, what they’re printing, and how much print is costing your school. This will help you to identify and address any issues, and make adjustments to policies and procedures as needed to tighten security, make printing more efficient and to keep up with the change in needs of your school and/or in printing technology.
Implementing secure printing practices in schools is not just a matter of protecting sensitive information but also about fostering a culture of responsibility and efficiency. With the right print management software, schools can safeguard their data, reduce waste, and optimize their printing infrastructure. For more information regarding print management software or implementing secure printing practices in schools, feel free to reach out to our team! We can conduct a complimentary print assessment and recommend a print management solution that’s right for you. Give us a call at (800) 727-6383, email us an info@parmetech.com, or connect with our team via our website form.
