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Author Topic: Hacking printers?  (Read 2888 times)

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Offline thundley4

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Hacking printers?
« on: December 21, 2011, 01:11:24 PM »
If you know the IP address of someone's printer, is it possible to hack/access it?
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Offline Chris_

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Re: Hacking printers?
« Reply #1 on: December 21, 2011, 01:19:30 PM »
Yes.

Most Microsoft computers come with file and printer sharing enabled.  You may want to turn that off.
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Offline thundley4

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Re: Hacking printers?
« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2011, 03:14:18 PM »
Quote from: chris_ on December 21, 2011, 01:19:30 PM
Yes.

Most Microsoft computers come with file and printer sharing enabled.  You may want to turn that off.


I've done that on our computers.  The reason I asked though, is that I was at my credit union this week and they have the printers IP address printed on the printer.  It didn't seem like a bright idea to me.
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Offline Chris_

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Re: Hacking printers?
« Reply #3 on: December 21, 2011, 03:24:41 PM »
That is probably a local address and not something that would be accessible publicly, ie. punching their IP address into your web browser.  TCP/IP has reserved network addresses that are considered un-routable by public ISPs based on standard networking protocol.  They're usually addresses like 192.168.x.x or 255.x.x.x.  They can be used on internal/private networks, but access to the public internet would require a different IP address at their firewall or access point.
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Offline thundley4

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Re: Hacking printers?
« Reply #4 on: December 21, 2011, 05:22:42 PM »
It was a 192.168.xx.xx.  I guess they did that to make it easier for their IT person to fix problems.
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Offline LC EFA

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Re: Hacking printers?
« Reply #5 on: December 21, 2011, 06:59:32 PM »
Quote from: thundley4 on December 21, 2011, 05:22:42 PM
It was a 192.168.xx.xx.  I guess they did that to make it easier for their IT person to fix problems.

Yes. If you've got remote based support it saves time if the client (the bank teller ) can tell the support droid on the other end of the phone what printer they're complaining about.
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Offline thundley4

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Re: Hacking printers?
« Reply #6 on: December 21, 2011, 07:19:56 PM »
I had just wondered about this since it was in the news recently about some internet capable printers being susceptible to hacking and could be made to start fires or cause other problems.
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Offline Chris_

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Re: Hacking printers?
« Reply #7 on: December 21, 2011, 07:42:21 PM »
That is somewhat different.  Off-the-shelf consumer stuff is going to be more vulnerable because it's more widely available.  Using those same blue Linksys wireless routers that are everywhere, I could probably find a way into your computer network.  And since those printers are not protected with the same type of security as your computer (with a firewall and password protection), I could cause all sorts of havoc. 

Your bank or credit union is going to have access to a higher level of protection and security based on what they will have available to them that the regular home user would not.
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Offline thundley4

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Re: Hacking printers?
« Reply #8 on: December 21, 2011, 07:47:01 PM »
Quote from: chris_ on December 21, 2011, 07:42:21 PM
That is somewhat different.  Off-the-shelf consumer stuff is going to be more vulnerable because it's more widely available.  Using those same blue Linksys wireless routers that are everywhere, I could probably find a way into your computer network.  And since those printers are not protected with the same type of security as your computer (with a firewall and password protection), I could cause all sorts of havoc. 

Your bank or credit union is going to have access to a higher level of protection and security based on what they will have available to them that the regular home user would not.


You don't know my credit union very well. It is very local and very small, only 2 employees and they are part time.
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Offline Chris_

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Re: Hacking printers?
« Reply #9 on: December 21, 2011, 07:48:08 PM »
Ah.

I noticed my doctor's office had those damned blue wifi routers in their office.  I really wanted to say something, but I wasn't feeling well at the time.  Those things worry me.

I've got a list of default account id's and passwords for dozens of off-the-shelf and enterprise-level routers and switches.  That's if they haven't been disabled yet. 
« Last Edit: December 21, 2011, 07:52:04 PM by chris_ »
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Offline TVDOC

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Re: Hacking printers?
« Reply #10 on: December 22, 2011, 06:51:25 PM »
Quote from: chris_ on December 21, 2011, 01:19:30 PM
Yes.

Most Microsoft computers come with file and printer sharing enabled.  You may want to turn that off.

I just checked that, since I'm posting from a hotel wifi network, and my Win7 laptop has its sharing defaults set to "off" (out of the box), and further when you log onto a new "open" wireless network it won't connect unless you identify it as a "public" network, it then enables userid and password protection for the computer automatically.

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