14.08.17
Is printing the public sector’s GDPR blindspot?
KYOCERA discusses the need for public sector organisations to focus on printers and multi-functional devices as part of preparations for the forthcoming General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
It’s no secret the UK’s public sector is facing increasing pressure. There’s a growing demand for public services – higher than ever before – along with central initiatives to digitise services, and constant budget restrictions.
While this journey of digitising services undeniably cuts costs, increases efficiency and helps service users, it also comes complete with an increased risk of cyber threats.
Cyber security has become, in recent times, one of the biggest challenges facing the public sector today. The recent WannaCry ransomware epidemic shone the light on the public sector in relation to its security vulnerabilities, with councils and NHS bodies hitting the headlines in their droves. It’s clear many organisations within the public sector still have a long way to go to become as secure as possible.
Although printing may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of ways that cyber attacks can get into your organisation, actually today’s devices have come a long way from what they once were. Nowadays, printers and multi-function devices (MFDs) are intelligent networked assets. Just like PCs, printers have known vulnerabilities that if exploited, can allow attackers to breach a business’s network.
Is the public sector prepared for GDPR?
With the EU’s forthcoming GDPR coming into force, we wanted to shine the spotlight on printing to see if UK public sector organisations were prepared.
The results from our survey of 161 UK public sector organisations were eye-opening. Only 59% were aware of the implications of GDPR for their organisation, while only 73% felt prepared to meet their obligations around document and print management.
It’s clear that printers and MFDs are still being left at the bottom of the queue when it comes to data security strategies. While thankfully only 8% of organisations had experienced a print-related security breach to date, this research still confirms our fears that print and document management is a security weak spot when it comes to data protection. This is even more concerning given that print and data go hand-in-hand – just think about how much sensitive information is printed or scanned at your organisation every day.
As it stands, organisations are unaware and unprepared for the GDPR implications. With its implementation now less than a year away and the public sector continuing to shift towards electronic delivery, there’s still a lot of work to do in order to avoid fines of €20m or 4% of annual turnover – whichever is greater – for the most serious breaches.
Without adequate protection, cyber-attackers can easily gain access to MFDs and the data they store, potentially then gaining access to unencrypted data available across entire IT networks, bypassing company firewalls in the process.
Become GDPR-ready with KYOCERA
Another issue compounding the lack of confidence around GDPR is that there’s still a huge amount of confusion around how organisations can meet compliance.
The good news is that KYOCERA is simplifying the road to GDPR as much as possible, by bringing you solutions that are GDPR-ready. As one of the world’s leading office document solutions companies, KYOCERA has been supplying the public sector with products and services for more than 25 years.
Our product range includes ECOSYS printers, highly reliable TASKalfa and smart MFDs complemented by supplies, software and services. These innovative products, built on a foundation of long-life components, offer low total cost of ownership and high efficiency.
In the frame for public sector contracts
To make life easier, KYOCERA has recently been certified on the CCS RM3781 framework, which caters for the public sector’s MFD, managed print services and records information management needs.
It serves public sector organisations including local and central government, as well as NHS organisations, catering for a reduction in print volumes and increasing move towards digitisation.
If you are unsure whether or not you can purchase through the framework or would like to speak to one of KYOCERA’s GDPR experts, please get in touch by calling 00845 710 3104, emailing [email protected] and visiting www.rm3781.co.uk.