Photo by Ramón Salinero on Unsplash

Your printer is probably sitting in a corner of your office or bedroom right now, quietly humming away whenever you need a physical copy of something. You might think of it as a harmless device—maybe even a bit antiquated in our digital age. But security researchers have a different take: they consider your printer one of the most dangerous devices connected to your home network.

It sounds absurd. How can a machine that just pushes ink onto paper be dangerous? The answer lies in how modern printers work. They're not simple devices anymore. They're computers. Networked computers that connect to the same WiFi as your laptop, phone, and smart TV. They store data. They maintain connections. They have software that rarely gets updated. And most people have absolutely no idea how to secure them.

The Forgotten Device in Your Network

When cybersecurity firm Quocirca surveyed 3,000 IT decision-makers in 2022, they discovered something uncomfortable: 39% of organizations had experienced a printer-related security breach in the previous year. Not a single attempted breach. An actual successful one.

Think about what your printer knows. It has access to everything you've sent to print. Sensitive documents about your health, finances, job applications—all passing through this device. Modern printers cache this data. They store logs. Some even keep copies of every page ever printed on an internal hard drive. If someone hacks your printer, they potentially get access to years worth of private information without ever touching your computer.

The attack vector is almost laughably simple. Many home printers use default passwords that owners never change. Others have security vulnerabilities that have been known for years but never patched because manufacturers stopped supporting older models. Some printers are discoverable on the public internet through a simple search on Shodan, the search engine for connected devices. Type in the right query and you can find thousands of unsecured printers broadcasting their location and status publicly.

Security researcher Jay Radcliffe once demonstrated this by printing a message on a stranger's printer in another country. Just for fun. He could have done much worse.

How Attackers Actually Use Your Printer

So someone gains access to your printer. What's their end goal? Usually, it's not about the printer itself.

Your printer sits on your home network. It's trusted infrastructure that most people don't monitor closely. From the printer, attackers can move laterally—spreading to your computer, your phone, your other devices. It's essentially a backdoor into your entire digital life. They can install malware, steal credentials, or monitor your activities. Some sophisticated attacks use printers as jumping-off points to target bigger networks like offices or hospitals.

In 2021, researchers discovered a botnet called Emotet that specifically targeted printers as part of its distribution network. These compromised printers became weapons that spread malware further. Your innocent HP printer in the spare bedroom could have been actively harming other people's computers without your knowledge or consent.

There's also the embarrassment factor. Hackers have been known to change printer settings to print racist messages or inappropriate content, just to humiliate the owner. It's not sophisticated. It's not subtle. But it works.

Why Manufacturers Don't Care (Much)

You might wonder why printer companies don't just fix these problems. The answer is depressingly straightforward: there's no financial incentive to do so.

Printer manufacturers make money from selling printers and, more importantly, from selling ink. Security updates don't directly generate revenue. In fact, they cost money to develop, test, and deploy. Many manufacturers have decided the cost-benefit analysis doesn't work in their favor. A printer from 2015 still prints just fine, so why invest in updating its security?

This creates a bizarre situation where your printer might have unfixed vulnerabilities for its entire lifespan. When you contact the manufacturer about a security issue, you often get the same response: upgrade to a newer model. Translation: buy something else.

What You Can Actually Do About It

The good news is that you don't need to throw out your printer or become a cybersecurity expert to protect yourself.

Start with the basics. Change the default password. Most printers come with a standard admin password like "password" or "12345." Go into your printer settings—usually accessible through a web interface—and change this to something strong. Yes, really. It's that simple and that effective.

Second, update the firmware. Check the manufacturer's website periodically to see if updates are available. It's tedious, but critical. Many of the vulnerabilities that plague printers have publicly available patches.

Third, change your printer's network settings. Disable features you don't use. Disable remote printing if you never use it. Disable internet connectivity if you only print from devices on your home network. Every disabled feature is a potential attack vector eliminated.

Fourth, put your printer on a separate network if your router supports it. Many modern routers allow you to create a guest network. Putting your printer there isolates it from your more sensitive devices. An attacker getting into your printer network wouldn't automatically have access to your computer or phone.

Finally, monitor your printer. Check the web interface occasionally to see if the settings have changed unexpectedly. Look at the print logs. Notice anything weird? That's your early warning system.

The Bigger Picture

Your printer is just one example of a larger problem: the explosion of connected devices that nobody is properly securing. Smart home devices, security cameras, even your refrigerator—they're all vulnerable in similar ways. And if you're concerned about device security, you should also understand that your smart home might be listening even when you think it's off.

The reality is that most of us are living in homes full of unsecured connected devices. We're so focused on cybersecurity for our computers and phones that we ignore the smaller devices quietly sitting in our corners, potentially compromised and actively dangerous.

The solution isn't panic. It's awareness. Your printer doesn't need to be a security nightmare. It just needs about 30 minutes of your attention—maybe once a year—to stay reasonably protected. In a world where we're constantly told to worry about sophisticated hacking techniques and zero-day exploits, sometimes the most important security measure is just remembering that the boring device in your office also deserves some basic care and attention.