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Technology giant HP announced new and updated print security software and services to help businesses improve the security and efficiency of their print environments.
Server-less pull printing is a new feature of HP Access Control that eliminates the need for servers in small, branch offices, and can be deployed to maintain document confidentiality, improve regulatory compliance and save on toner and paper.
Access Control can also serve as a managed mobility solution, allowing mobile device users to print through email to the secure pull print queue.
This feature allows print jobs initiated on mobile devices to print with the same access control, tracking and security measures as print jobs initiated by PCs or laptops on the company network. These capabilities are available globally to all customers with Access Control.
“There is not a business out there that wouldn’t benefit from, or should address print security. Printers are an endpoint on the network and they need to be treated as equal citizens when it comes to security. We find that a lot of businesses haven’t placed the same rigor and attention to secure their printers which places them at unnecessary risk,” Michael Howard, worldwide security practice lead for HP, told eWEEK. “That said, two industries where we are seeing heightened interest are health care and financial services because of their growing regulatory compliance requirements.”
For example, a health care organization could benefit from the HP JetAdvantage Security Manager solution to manage remote printers to compliance regulations, Howard explained.
Additionally, after securing the infrastructure, using a secure print solution can ensure the output of critical information is controlled and not left unattended on devices, which could cause a breach of patient information.
The JetAdvantage Security Manager has also expanded device coverage to include recent Pro-class LaserJet printers, which means customers can use HP’s policy-based security monitoring and management solution to secure a wider range of printers.
Also, HP Printing Security Advisory Services expanded its geographic coverage, adding security advisers in Europe and Asia to make HP’s print security services available to customers in these regions.
Howard also noted that ease-of-use for print security software. HP wants to make it easier for IT to secure the printer infrastructure, he said.
“That’s why with JetAdvantage Security Manager, we designed the software to make it look and work like other security management tools that IT professionals use,” he said. “We also designed the solution to enable IT to manage printers as a fleet — it is as easy to manage 10 printers as it is to manage thousands of printers. You can create a policy and push it out across an entire printer fleet and keep it current, avoiding hours of manual intervention to administer policies to individual printers and keep them up to date.”