Printer (MFP): what it is and how it is attacked
Prints, scans and often emails documents.
Also known as
- MFP
- multifunction device
- copier
Typing any of them into the editor finds this object.
Why it matters on a security diagram
A full computer with a hard disk and stored credentials, and one that rarely appears on a patching schedule or an asset register.
How it gets attacked, and what reduces it
How it gets attacked
- Stored network credentials read from its configuration
- Default administrator passwords
What reduces it
- Change default administrator passwords, which is rarely done because nobody signs in to it
- Put it in the asset register so it appears on a patching schedule
- Do not store network credentials in it where its configuration can be read
Where it sits
- Group
- Endpoints and devices · The things people and processes touch directly.
- Whose side, by default
- Ours · Belongs to the organisation the diagram is about.
- Catalogue identifier
- printer
Reviewed . CC BY 4.0.
Others in endpoints and devices
- Desktop computerworkstation · PC · desktopA computer somebody sits at to do their job.
- Laptopnotebook · mobile workstationA portable computer that leaves the building.
- Mobile phonesmartphone · mobile · handsetA pocket computer that reads company email.
- Smart deviceIoT · internet of things · connected device · camera · CCTV · IP camera · security camera · sensor · door lock · smart TVEveryday equipment with a network connection: cameras, sensors, door locks, TVs.
- Plant equipmentOT · ICS · SCADA · operational technologyMachinery that runs a physical process: a pump, a valve, a production line.
- Machine controllerPLC · RTU · programmable logic controllerThe small computer that tells a piece of machinery what to do.
- Door access readercard reader · badge reader · access controlReads a badge to unlock a door.
The endpoints and devices group lists all 8 of them side by side.
Printer on your own diagram
Open the editor, press N, and type MFP. The object is placed and connected to whatever was selected, and Tab adds the next one already joined to it. Nothing is uploaded: the page is served with a Content Security Policy that forbids the browser from making any outbound request at all.
Open the diagram maker