Press Release
Quocirca Print Security Landscape 2024
Focus on print security rises as average print-related data breach costs pass the £1million mark
Quocirca Print Security Landscape 2024 reveals that the number of print-related breaches has increased and confidence in print infrastructure security has dropped as organisations switch up their print fleets
London, UK, 9th July 2024: Changes to print infrastructure composition are coinciding with greater awareness of print security as breaches and their associated costs rise, according to the latest edition of Quocirca’s Print Security Landscape Report 2024.
71% of the 500 IT decision makers from the UK, US, and Europe surveyed said that their organisation remains dependent on print, and 80% said they have changed the composition of their printer fleet in the past two years.
67% of respondents reported experiencing at least one print-related data breach in the past year, an increase from 61% in 2023. The average financial cost per breach has also risen 38% year on year, reaching £1,028,346.
Louella Fernandes, CEO, Quocirca, comments: “Print infrastructure security has often been regarded as lower priority than other aspects of cybersecurity. However, our latest study indicates growing awareness of the vulnerabilities associated with hybrid and remote printing as breach frequency and costs rise. Concerns about employee-owned home printers now rank second on the IT security breach list, with office printing in third position. Last year, these issues ranked ninth and eighth, respectively.”
Confidence in print infrastructure security falls, spending expected to rise
Just 16% of IT decision makers say they are completely confident in the security of their print infrastructure. This continues a three-year trend of confidence decline, from 19% in 2023 and 23% in 2022. SMBs are least confident, just 13% say they have complete confidence in
print security. The study also showed differences between confidence in office print environments, where 58% are mostly or completely confident, and home/remote printing, where this figure drops to 47%
The lack of confidence may be prompting organisations to commit more budget to the challenge, with 70% expecting spend on print security to increase in the next 12 months.
In terms of the print security measures being introduced, there is more evidence that focus has turned to home printing. Providing authorised printers to home workers that adhere to security policies (42%) is the most commonly implemented measure, followed by reporting
and analytics to monitor home and office print usage of each employee for tracking and audit purposes (41%).
AI expected to make an impact – for better or worse
34% of IT decision makers say it is very important that print vendors use machine learning and/or artificial intelligence to identify potential security threats and cyberattacks. This figure rises to 48% among organisations that see printing as a critical activity, and 41% among
MPS users.
However, ITDMs also recognise that AI can be a risk as well as an opportunity, with 62% reporting extreme or moderate concern that AI will be used to create further security risks.
“Organisations that are highly dependent on print demonstrate their acute awareness of the impact AI could have in it,” says Louella. “There is an important role here for vendors and channel partners to ensure their messages around AI opportunities and risks are robust and reassuring in equal measure.”
MPS and fleet standardisation offers benefits, but these are not being realised
Organisations using managed print services report much greater satisfaction with their print supplier’s security capabilities, with 43% saying they are very satisfied compared to only 23% of organisations not using MPS. This correlation holds true over confidence in print infrastructure security, with 21% of MPS users saying they are completely confident, compared to only 18% of non-MPS users.
Organisations using standardised print fleets are less likely to report one or more print- related breaches (59%) than those operating multivendor fleet (70%). However, fewer organisations now operate standardised fleets; 73% now say they operate a mixed fleet, up from 69% in 2023. Furthermore, organisations operating a mixed fleet expect to deploy more on-premise print servers in the coming year – 68% state that they will increase the number of print servers, compared with only 34% of those with a standardised fleet.
Louella continues: “Alongside a lack of standardisation we are also seeing organisations reticent about moving to cloud print management, with cited reasons including security concerns, perceived lack of functionality, and cost. These should all be easy for channel partners to overcome, but it seems clear that a complex, multi-vendor, hybrid cloud print environment is the prevailing approach right now, making management more difficult.”
Quocirca’s Print Security Landscape Report 2024 contains analysis of the major print security management challenges reported by organisations and how they are addressing them, together with a comprehensive review of key vendors and ISV security offerings.
Purchase the full report here.
About Quocirca
Quocirca is a global market insight and research firm providing strategic market analysis and intelligence to print industry business and technology leaders. Quocirca specialises in analysing the convergence of print and digital technologies in the future workplace.
Since 2006, Quocirca has played an influential role in advising clients on major shifts in the market. Our consulting and research are at the forefront of the rapidly evolving print services and solutions market, trusted by clients seeking new strategies to address disruptive
technologies.