- Consolidation of printer safety under a supplier can save time but not without integration risks
- Canon’s new security subscription arrives just as its printer drivers face critical vulnerability exposure
- Root Access to Canons Firewall allegedly sold online in the middle of the New Enterprise Protection Service -launching
The lines between traditional hardware providers and cyber security providers start to blur when printer marks enter the cyber security field, but hackers can still use your business printer as a light back door in your business network.
Canon, long associated with cameras and office printing hardware, now offers a layered cyber security subscription aimed at protecting endpoint devices, documents and data.
The offer includes two levels: Improved and Premium – the former covers basic such as firmware updates and databackup, while the latter introduces proactive monitoring, threat detection and fast device recovery.
Canon security concerns
The launch follows closely on the heels of serious security concerns related to Canon’s printed infrastructure, including vulnerabilities with high difficulty drivers and a possible network break that was announced on underground forums.
Just a few days before the new subscription service was announced, Microsoft’s offensive security team revealed a critical vulnerability, CVE-2025-1268 that affects Canon’s printer drivers.
The error that scores 9.4 on the CVS scale can enable attackers to stop printing or perform arbitrary code under certain conditions.
Canon issued advisers and encouraged users to update vulnerable drivers, especially those bound to several production and office printer models.
While patching is crucial, the persistence of such lacks the wider risks that poorly ensured pressure infrastructure can pose.
Adding to this turmoil has reportedly been the subject of underground lists that offer access to root level to its internal firewall systems.
Although the company has not confirmed any such violation, security analysts continue to monitor requirements circulating on dark web forums that Puorts to offer access that allows attackers to create back doors or move laterally through the corporate network
Based on this, Canon’s new subscription security services can be seen as both an answer to reputation and an attempt to move itself as more than a printer supplier.
Although these services are similar to the Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) features, they are only focused on Canon’s unit environment.
Whether this strategy gets traction depends on more than just Canon’s execution, as there is still a good deal of skepticism about traditional hardware companies that take on roles that are typically reserved for providers of antivirus and cyber security.
For companies that control large fleets of printed units, consolidation of protection through the hardware provider can offer convenience, but it raises questions about scope, integration and supervision.
If others in the hardware sector start offering similar subscriptions, the market could see a gradual expansion of what constitutes EPP.
Via CyberSecurity News and Security Week
