Are printers, cameras and other office devices a way in for attackers?
Yes, and often an easy one. Printers, IP cameras, video recorders, smart TVs and door systems run small operating systems that are rarely updated, often keep their default passwords and cannot run antivirus. Attackers use them in two ways: as a hidden foothold that nobody watches, and as a starting point for scanning the rest of the network. Change default passwords, update the firmware, switch off services you do not use, and put these devices in their own network segment that cannot reach your servers, or the internet beyond what they need. Because you cannot install an agent on them, watch them from the network: from a SPANSPAN: switch port analyser. A switch setting that sends a copy of network traffic to one port, where a sensor can watch it. or TAPTAP: test access point. A small device that copies the traffic on a network cable for a sensor to watch. port, NetSenX sees their destinations and flags beaconing and scanning, on every plan, without any software on the device.
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Terms used here
- SPAN (switch port analyser)
- A switch setting that sends a copy of network traffic to one port, where a sensor can watch it.
- TAP (test access point)
- A small device that copies the traffic on a network cable for a sensor to watch.