Priced to pleased and loaded with popular features, they’ve come to be seen as the discreet yet efficient office multifunction sidekicks that sit politely in their place, waiting to receive new jobs, over the network.

What almost everybody forgets it the security risk networked printers represent. Combining several functions in a single unit, including fax, copy, print and scan, these devices are likely to be compromised by hackers.

Since nobody pays close attention to these seemingly mundane devices, they can easily be hacked under the IT Surveillance Team’s radar which, typically, has other (more pressing) threats to deal with, namely on the web server front. In the case of multifunction printers, the attacks are as likely to come from inside the office as from the outside world, which add to the severity of the security risk.

What’s the big deal if the networked printer secretly slides under a hacker’s control?

Well, for one thing, the hacker could view, collect, steal or distribute everything that goes through the device. Imagine your competitor electronically getting all your latest business proposals — that would surely endanger your entire company.

The following types of attacks are most likely to occur within the realm of your office’s multifunction printer so make sure to learn about these attack scenarios:

• DoS - Specialized malware can be programmed to crash printers and scanners, therefore disrupting paper-based business operations.
• Code execution - Hackers can exploit vulnerabilities to load a rootkit into printers, thereby hijacking all documents passing across the network (not just the compromised device).
• Document spying - Featring built-in network, fax / modem and LAN / WAN capabilities, there are a variety of ways to smuggle the stolen data out of an organization, once it’s been captured.
• Credentials theft - If users need to enter a password for certain operations, such as scanning to email, an attacker can capture user names and passwords to gain further access to network resources.

While they may look harmless, modern multifunction printers aren’t dumb machines anymore. IT Admins need to pay attention to these devices’ vulnerabilities and weaknesses to be in a more favorable position where they can apply patches and, at the very least, prepare comprehensive risk-management strategies.

A word of caution also to the multifunction printers that can be accessed through an online authentication interface, through any web browser. Though this system is remarkably convenient for end-users, such authentication methods can easily be bypassed to launch commands which may completely hijack the device.

If you’re serious about closing all prime networked entry points for hackers, perhaps ou should also include all multifunction printers connected to your network.

Tags: network, printers, hackers, hijack, devices, business, authentication, security

At the very least, resorting to short-term thinking for business management can be quite stressful as the lack of solid longer-term thinking sets the stage for a stressful work environment where everything seems to hang in the latest decision needing to be made.

For instance, look at how many business decisions are being made just to pump up the current quarter’s results. Worse yet, consider the legions of C-level executives who bend over backwards to tie in short sighted money deals with ever more capricious investors. The short-term thinking pitfalls are obvious, in today’s business environment, hence the importance of learning to recognize it in order to properly manage it.

Short-term management has upsides which, among other things, helps the company move swiftly when market changes occur but the downsides are way more risky as they could bring down the whole organization into a sort of vortex made strong by countless small mistakes adding up into a much larger “situation” that ends up spinning out of all control (and endangering everybody’s job).

Short-term thinking paves the way to exciting business management times as everything is up for discussion on a regular basis but that’s the kind of mindset that people who like to plan far ahead feel uncomfortable with.

The holy grail isn’t just short-term or just long-term, it’s about balance — a sort of comfort zone for decision making where the latest “trends” don’t necessarily wildly skew everything that was already planned ahead.

If anything, perhaps this article will help you realize how foolish it can be to jump head first in the latest media spin only to find out, a little later, that the spin had more to do with hot air than anything else.

So take your time. Think. Decide better and elevate yourself over the often risky pool of trends and media spins that , unchecked, can scrap a well laid out plan in favor of an impulsive and frenzied scramble for sudden (and usually largely irrelevant -or- unnecessary) reorganization.

Life is much better for those who manage to escape the short-term thinking roller coaster.

Tags: short-term, long-term, management, business, decisions, media spin

• The Georgian of the Caucasus Mountains (in Southern Russia);
• The Vilcabamba Indians of the Ecuadorean Andes; and…
• The people of the Hunza Valley in Kashmir.

All three follow this no nonsense recipe for a long, happy life:

1. Exercise regularly and consistently;
2. Don’t use preservatives or artificial colorants;
3. Eat a frugal diet which is high in fiber, low in salt, fat and refined sugars -plus- rarely fry in oil;
4. Drink water with a high mineral content, from a well or mountain streams;
5. Consume plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables;
6. Never experience loneliness;
7. Practice holistic medicine namely using traditional herbs and medicines to prevent -and- cure disease;
8. Enjoy regular sex, even up to the venerable age of 99 ; )
9. Live in extended families since they offer cradle to grave security;
10. Seldom drink, smoke or otherwise poison yourself;
11. Live at high altitudes where there is little air pollution;
12. Respect your elders, especially those who lead busy active lives well into their 90′s;
13. Emphasize good relationships over the pursuit of wealth or success.

Take a few moments to reflect on these wise words.

Succeeding in business will may only bring you short lived joyful moments if the price to pay for such mercantile rewards is a miserable, short span life.

Look for balance in everything you venture into and you’ll see, doors will open more easily when you need them to.

Tags: Longevity, Business, Health, Happy Life, Relationships, Success