Multifunction Printer Security in Banking: Why Your Copier Could Be Your Biggest Compliance Risk

Every multifunction printer in a bank branch stores, transmits, and outputs the same nonpublic personal information federal regulators require you to protect. Most financial institutions have hardened their firewalls, endpoints, and email gateways, yet the copier behind the teller line may still run on default credentials with a hard drive full of scanned loan applications. Under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, that is an unaddressed risk in your information security program.

This article outlines the regulatory basis for treating multifunction printer security as a compliance obligation. It also covers five risks your IT and compliance teams should audit, and the managed print controls that close each gap.

Why Multifunction Printer Security Is a Compliance Obligation

Section 501(b) of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) requires financial institutions to protect the security and confidentiality of customer information. How that requirement applies depends on your charter:

  • Banks follow the Interagency Guidelines Establishing Information Security Standards, enforced by the OCC, FDIC, and Federal Reserve.
  • Credit unions follow NCUA Part 748.
  • Non-bank lenders and other financial companies fall under the FTC Safeguards Rule.

All three frameworks share the same core expectations. You must maintain a written information security program, assess risk across the systems that handle customer information, control access to that information, oversee your service providers, and dispose of customer data properly. The FTC Safeguards Rule adds explicit requirements to encrypt customer information in transit and at rest.

A multifunction printer (MFP) touches every one of those requirements. It scans account opening documents, prints loan disclosures, emails statements, and keeps copies of that data on internal storage. If a device handles customer information, it belongs in your risk assessment. Most institutions have never put it there.

Other regulations raise the stakes further. Publicly traded banks and holding companies must meet Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) requirements for internal controls and record integrity, and Section 802 carries penalties for altering or destroying records improperly. Every state also has a data breach notification law, and some states go further. New York’s 23 NYCRR 500 cybersecurity regulation, for example, applies to the financial institutions it covers. A copier that exposes customer data can trigger notification duties the same way a compromised server does.

Copier Security Risks in Banking: Five Areas to Audit

The following scenarios are common in branch and back-office environments. Each maps to a specific control.

1: Documents Left in the Output Tray

A loan officer prints a credit report to a shared device, gets pulled into a meeting, and the report sits in the tray while customers and staff walk past. This is one of the most frequent print-related exposures in financial services, and firewalls do nothing to prevent it.

The control: Secure release printing holds each job at the device until the user authenticates with a badge or PIN. Print management software adds control over who can use each device and keeps a record of what was printed, by whom, and where.

2: Hard Drives That Leave the Building

Most enterprise MFPs contain a hard drive or solid-state storage that retains images of scanned and printed documents. When a leased copier goes back to the lessor, or an owned device is sold or recycled without a data wipe, that customer information leaves your control.

This has already happened in a regulated industry. In 2013, a health insurer settled with federal regulators after copiers it had returned from lease were found to still hold protected health information on their hard drives. Financial institutions face the same exposure under GLBA disposal requirements and the FACTA Disposal Rule.

The control: A documented decommissioning process that wipes or destroys storage before any device leaves your custody, with a certificate for your compliance file.

3: Unsecured Print Queues on the Branch Network

Many branch networks send print jobs in unencrypted, plain-text form. Any device on the same network segment can potentially intercept those jobs or send jobs to an open queue. Under the encryption-in-transit expectations in the Safeguards Rule, an unencrypted print stream carrying customer data is a documented gap.

The control: Centralized print queue management, encrypted print traffic, and restricted access to device management interfaces.

If you cannot say how many print devices are on your branch networks today, a managed print assessment will map every one of them.

4: Default Credentials and Outdated Firmware

MFPs ship with default administrator passwords and network services that many institutions never change or disable. Firmware often goes unpatched for years because no one owns the device from a security standpoint. An attacker who reaches an unpatched copier can view stored documents, change scan-to-email destinations, or use the device as a foothold on the network.

The control: Scheduled printer maintenance that includes firmware updates and proactive service visits, so every device stays current without adding to your IT team’s workload.

5: No Inventory, No Usage Record

Examiners and auditors expect financial institutions to know which assets handle customer information. Many banks cannot produce an accurate list of their print devices, much less show who uses each one. Personal desktop printers bought on a branch credit card are a common blind spot.

The control: A managed print services program that brings every device under one agreement with proactive monitoring and consolidated reporting. That gives your compliance team a defensible inventory.

Financial Services Print Compliance Across Multiple Branches

The risks above multiply with every location. A community bank with a dozen branches may have 40 or more print devices, often from several vendors, each on its own service arrangement. Consistent security settings are nearly impossible to enforce across that kind of fleet.

Print Image Solutions supports multi-location operations under one agreement, with one point of contact and standardized device configurations across every branch. That consistency matters when an examiner asks how you enforce controls at your smallest location, not just at headquarters.

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Adding Print Governance to Your Information Security Program

Closing these gaps starts with documentation, before any new equipment. Four steps bring your print environment into your existing GLBA program:

  • Add MFPs and printers to the risk assessment that supports your information security program.
  • Name an owner for print security, whether that is IT, compliance, or a shared role.
  • Define written procedures for device configuration, access, and decommissioning.
  • Include your print provider in your service provider oversight process.

That last step is required under GLBA. Your institution is responsible for overseeing any vendor with access to customer information. A print partner should be able to document how it configures devices, handles storage media, and supports your audit trail.

Talk to PIS About Print Security for Your Branch Environment

Print Image Solutions works with financial institutions to find print-related exposures and put managed controls in place to address them. Talk to PIS about a print security assessment for your branch environment and get a clear picture of every device that handles customer data.

Schedule a Print Security Assessment

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