PRINT SECURITY IN EDUCATION
of the risks of third-party drivers, it also acted as a trigger for the move toward the IPP Class Driver which, as well as streamlining printing process, reducing complexities and enhancing efficiency, also reduces exposure to attacks. “Therefore, a combination of major security breaches, regular security optimisation conversations with resellers – as well as IT departments’ own diligence – should mean that the education sector is aware of the risks and has measures in place to mitigate them.” Gary adds that security is often the highest priority for an IT manager within an educational institution. “Many schools and colleges are becoming increasingly aware of the risks posed by end points,” he says. “While IT teams may be putting controls in place to minimise risk, the security of print devices can however be overlooked. “We firmly believe that security needs to be looked at holistically, and this is with our clients is important. By objectively evaluating our clients’ threat landscape, all end point devices such as MFPs are considered. At Sharp we work closely with our clients providing expertise to help them understand the threats and the controls needed to reduce risk.” Differing solutions But solutions for education customers need to be different to those used in other business sectors. “While the fundamentals remain the same – securing the MFD and related print software to stop data leaks before, during
and after printing – we should bear in mind that the BYOD model is even more prevalent in education than in a corporate or business setting,” says Stuart. “Therefore, education has a greater need for solutions like PaperCut’s Mobility Print and Print Deploy for PaperCut MF and NG. They facilitate BYOD by supporting Vendor Agnostic End User Computing. In terms of the parallels between the two sectors, education also benefits from print management solutions that provide insights into who has been printing what, making it easier to cross-charge departments or individuals for their print as well as putting print rules in place that help to lower print volumes.” Security vs convenience Stuart adds that there is always a trade-off between security and convenience. “It’s important to implement solutions that aren’t more complex to use because of the security they provide,” he says. “Remember that not all users are IT savvy; a teacher or student just wants to collect their printed documents or run off some copies quickly and easily, without having to navigate a complex security sign on or other barrier to their productivity. Print must remain easy to use without compromising the user experience or security, so resellers need to reflect on that when recommending solutions to the education sector.” Andrew agrees that the educational market does not need resellers that sell solutions and tools that increase the workloads of the already conflicted and stressed resources. “Instead, education establishments need security partners, MSSPs that can sell solutions with wrap around services including that of advisory services that focus on improving the overall foundations of the educational networks in question,” he says. “Their user base is diverse, and they need to support technology in different ways to best enable young people’s development and learning. A traditional policy based corporate approach simply does not work; solutions and supporting services must be tailored to the environment.” Volume of sensitive data Gary says that while print security best practice remains the same across all types of organisations, education establishments require extra consideration. “That’s because
Stuart Brooks head of sales and channel, EMEA
papercut.com
Print must remain easy to use without compromising the user experience or security. “ ”
Andrew Smith chief information strategy officer
kyoceradocument solutions.co.uk
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printinthechannel.co.uk
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