Why would our office printer connect to servers on the internet?

Usually for ordinary reasons: firmware updates, toner and usage reporting to the supplier, cloud printing and scan-to-cloud features. Managed-print contracts often include the reporting, so ask your supplier what the printer sends and where. The risk is that printers are full computers with old software, admin pages with default passwords and stored copies of scanned documents, and nobody watches them. Check the printer's settings for cloud and remote features you do not use and switch them off, update the firmware, set an admin password, and limit its internet access to the supplier's services. A printer that starts connecting to many internal addresses, or to new places outside, is worth a look the same day. NetSenX sees printers 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 without software on them, lists them on the network map and flags scanning, beaconing and unusual outbound volume on every plan.

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