Companies worldwide are victims of hacker attacks through office equipment

The web security company Zascaler conducted research and found that thousands of companies worldwide have been victims of hacking through office equipment.

Scanners, photocopiers, printers and DVR’s can all be used to hack into computer systems all over the world as web server software is often built in to most office equipment.

The reason for this is that it makes it much easier for IT technicians to troubleshoot the equipment and change settings via the internet. However, some servers may have very weak passwords or no password at all, which is when serious problems occur.

This year, the company RSA had its network hacked into and the technology for SecurID tokens that issue one-time pass codes was stolen. According to USA Today, SecurID is used by “companies and governments to restrict access to sensitive systems.”

Michael Sutton, Zscaler’s Vice President of Research said: "We're living in a compromised world surrounded by advanced threats, Our security model has to become more information-centric. Some simple protection measures that companies can take include identifying and regularly auditing printers, routers and other appliances equipped as Web servers. Unused functions should be disabled and strong passwords put in place. “

Source: Office equipment open to hacker attacks