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Security

What is secure print?

Secure print is a printer feature that holds each job until the user releases it at the device with a PIN, badge or sign-in, so no pages sit in the tray.

What is secure print?

On a shared printer, a job prints as soon as it arrives and sits in the output tray until someone collects it. Payroll reports, medical records and HR letters can be read or taken by whoever walks past. Secure print solves this by holding the job and printing it only when the owner is at the device and proves who they are. CompTIA calls the feature secured prints. Vendors and print management products use names such as hold print, PIN printing, pull printing, follow-me printing and badge release.

How it works

  1. The user prints and selects secure print or job storage in the driver, entering a PIN. Alternatively, the print server holds every job automatically.
  2. The job waits on the printer's internal storage or in a queue on a print server or cloud print service.
  3. At the printer, the user authenticates by entering the PIN on the control panel, tapping an ID badge on a card reader, or signing in with a username and password.
  4. The printer releases and prints only that user's jobs.
  5. Jobs nobody releases are deleted after a set time, which also cuts wasted paper and toner.

Device-based vs. server-based

  • Device-based PIN printing: the job is stored on one specific printer and released with a PIN typed at that printer. It is simple and needs no extra servers.
  • Server-based pull printing: jobs go to a central queue, and the user can release them at any enrolled printer, usually with a badge. This is what follow-me printing means.

Badging and the other printer security controls

Objective 3.7 groups secured prints with three related controls:

  • User authentication: users sign in at the device before they can print, copy, scan or fax.
  • Badging: an employee ID badge, usually a proximity (RFID) card or smart card, is tapped on a reader attached to the printer to sign in or release jobs.
  • Audit logs: the printer or print server records who printed, copied or scanned what, when, and how many pages, which supports accountability and investigations.

Held jobs are stored data. Printers that keep jobs on an internal drive should have storage encryption turned on, and the drive should be wiped or destroyed when the printer is retired.

Troubleshooting

  • Job does not appear at release: the user printed to the wrong queue, did not choose secure print in the driver, or the job expired.
  • Badge not recognized: the card is not enrolled or linked to the user's account, or the reader is disconnected.
  • Forgotten PIN: the job cannot be released. Let it expire or have an administrator delete it, then print again with a new PIN.

Secure print on the CompTIA A+ exam

Core 1 objective 3.7 lists four security settings for multifunction devices and printers: user authentication, badging, audit logs and secured prints. Scenario cues: confidential pages left in a shared printer's tray call for secured prints or badge release; a requirement to track who printed or copied documents calls for audit logs; and keeping unauthorized people off the copier or scanner calls for user authentication at the device. Protecting printed personally identifiable information also ties into Core 2 security and data-handling topics.

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Related terms

audit logs

Audit logs are detailed records that document the activities and events occurring within a computer system, network, or application, providing a chronological history for security, compliance, and troubleshooting purposes.

multifunction device

A single piece of office equipment that combines multiple functions such as printing, scanning, copying, and faxing into one integrated unit, reducing space requirements and operational complexity while improving workflow efficiency.

print queue

A print queue is a software component that manages the flow of print jobs from computers to a shared printer, organizing and processing print requests in an orderly manner.

print server

A print server is a dedicated device or software component that manages and distributes print jobs from multiple client computers to one or more shared printers on a network.

RFID

RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is a wireless technology that uses radio frequency signals to identify, categorize, and track objects, animals, or people equipped with RFID tags or transponders.

smart card

A smart card is a credit card-sized device that contains an embedded microprocessor or memory chip, used for authentication, secure data storage, and other applications.

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