Hacking printer network

Lan,

If a hacker can get to your printer, they have access to your entire network. They have to get into the network from an outside port before they can access anything.

Your best defense is to have a monitored and updated firewall on EVERY external connection to your network.

Your highest risk is any PC on the network that also has a direct connection to the outside. I would remove all dial-up modems on users PCs.

Then, you need to make sure that all connections to the outside from the servers have both a hardware and software firewall installed to protect them.

Review the firewall logs on at least a daily basis.

Consider making a policy to disconnect the outside connections whenever IT will not be available to monitor for hacker activity.

Chas

Thanks Chas,
This is just my curious, please CMIIW.
I think that the network printers are known to be especially vulnerable to hacking attacks. They have their own IP addresses and they run the various standard protocols that can be exploited. I think crackers can found a way to compromise any win NT server or workstation that had a printer attached to it or the ability to print to network printer with exploited some data from Win NT Spooler services (spoolss.exe)which that application contains a number of a security holes that allow for data overflows. If they can do this what will we have with our network? some resources down? or lost database?....i hope they can do that =/...
Regards,
Lan

=)

i mean they can't do that =)

Once a hacker gains access to your network, the printers are more vulnerable than the PCs because they are inherently harder to protect.

However, the hacker cannot get into your network from the printer unless the printer has a direct connection to the outside world.

No one outside of the network can get into the network without coming through an outside connection. The portals include:
Your internet connection. (IDSN, DSL, Cable, Dial-up)
Wireless network hubs.
Users PCs
Users PCs connected to both the network and an outside line.

Now, a hacker may be able to get a trojan installed on one of the user PCs, and exploit the printer network. But, once they have reached that level, they have access to your entire network anyway.

Besides, not only your printers, but most resources on your network have static IP addresses.

As I said, your best defense is to limit and control ALL connections from any networked device to the outside world.
Ideally, you have only 1 connection to the outside world that has at least 2 levels of firewalls between it and your network.

Chas

no, they can't
what somebody can do it's to eventually stop the service; but any network printer should be protected with a password
i don't heard somebody could attack the internal network from a printer (you can't install programs, ...)

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