Security Director Alert - Networked Copiers & Cameras

Millions of copiers and printers in thousands of companies worldwide are ripe targets for cyberthieves in the hunt for sensitive business documents. 

Researchers from Web security firm Zscaler ran a simple search and easily located 118,194 Hewlett-Packard printer-scanners, 9,431 Cannon photocopiers and 3,554 D-Link webcams equipped as Internet-connected Web servers.

Any intruder could do the same thing, then take over control of devices protected by weak passwords, says Michael Sutton, Zscaler's vice president of research. The intruder could then steal images of documents stored in a copier's memory or take control of webcams placed inside a work area.

"I'd be surprised if attackers weren't already taking advantage," says Sutton, who released the findings Thursday at the Black Hat cybersecurity conference here. "They'd be foolish not to. It's just too easy." (more)

This is old news for our our client family; we warned them about this years ago. The fact that the media is finally paying attention means this espionage trick is gaining exposure. Expect more people to take advantage of it. Double-check your defenses. Electrons move fast. I wish I could tell you this is the only information security vulnerability around your office. It isn't.