Printers Pwned By Grey Hat Hacker

Following the news about a grey hat hacker, by the name of Stackoverflowin is claiming to have pwned over 150,000 printers that have been left accessible online. He claims to have done so by running an automated script while searching for open printer ports and sending rogue print jobs to the targets device. Cesare Garlati, Chief Security Strategist at the prpl Foundation commented below.

Cesare Garlati, Chief Security Strategist at the prpl Foundation:

“Stackoverflowin’s demonstration, although comedic in nature, is an example of how connectivity in even the most obscure devices could present a real security headache for home and corporate networks.  Connected printers have received a bad reputation for presenting a  pivot point for gaining a foothold in a network – this case further proves the point.  Until security is built into the hardware of IoT devices, consumers need to accept responsibility for basic security measures and make sure erroneous ports aren’t opening devices to criminals.”