Techaisle Blog

In today's interconnected and threat-prone digital environment, securing print infrastructure is more crucial than ever. Businesses of all sizes require robust and comprehensive security solutions to safeguard sensitive data and ensure compliance. Print security has become a significant topic of discussion in the industry, given its essential role in protecting confidential information and mitigating cyber risks. Despite often being overlooked, printers and multifunction devices manage highly sensitive documents such as architectural plans, legal contracts, and financial records, making them potential vulnerabilities.

In addition, the rise of hybrid work has increased the focus on print security. As employees print and scan from various locations and devices, traditional security measures are no longer sufficient. Printers also act as network access points, which can be potential entryways for hackers to infiltrate systems. This increased risk, along with regulatory compliance requirements in industries such as finance and legal services, has made print security a key topic in IT security discussions. Businesses are now acknowledging that implementing secure print and scan solutions are essential not only for protecting physical and digital documents but also for maintaining their reputation, client trust, and business continuity in a complex threat landscape.

Xerox addresses the challenges of print security in the modern distributed workplace through a multi-faceted approach. The company takes a comprehensive approach to print security that includes device security, fleet management, and digital services. Xerox aims to be the print industry's most secure and trusted provider, which drives continuous improvement in its products, services, and infrastructure security. This Techaisle Take examines Xerox's security strategy, key offerings, and how it differs from competitors.

A Vision of Security and Trust

Xerox's vision is to be the most secure and trusted provider of workplace services. This commitment is driven by an executive mandate to continuously improve the security of its infrastructure, products, and services. To achieve this, Xerox has adopted the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) as a baseline for measuring and improving its cybersecurity program. Xerox tracks its security investments by mapping them to the NIST CSF and measures outcomes against desired targets. This framework ensures a systematic approach to security, aligning with industry best practices.

Techaisle's SMB and Midmarket security adoption trend survey research underscores the critical role of governance in today's complex IT landscape. The findings reveal that 36% of organizations identify a lack of governance as a significant impediment to successful AI project implementation. Additionally, 42% cite governance as a barrier to adopting cloud communications solutions. These challenges highlight the need for robust governance frameworks. Encouragingly, the survey also indicates a strong emphasis on security, with 58% prioritizing governance, risk, and compliance as essential components of their overall security strategy.

In the SMB context, "governance" is a concept akin to "taste" in interior design or "sustainability" in supply chains: universally acknowledged as essential but notoriously challenging to define. What is clear is governance's crucial role in safeguarding SMB interests, encompassing risk mitigation, regulatory adherence, and brand protection. It represents the collective vision of an organization, shaping its interactions with customers, partners, and the public. The term "governance" is often appropriated by IT departments, leading to discussions around IT, cloud, or data governance, obscuring its broader organizational implications.

A recent update from CrowdStrike caused a widespread outage, termed the largest in history. The IT outage highlighted the vulnerability of SMBs to large-scale tech outages and their dependence on third-party IT services. It also underscored the need for better preparedness and potentially more diverse IT ecosystems to mitigate such risks in the future. Cybercrime is predicted to cost $14.57 trillion globally in 2024, and it would be the world's third-largest economy after the US and China. This underlines the importance of robust cybersecurity. The incident raises a concerning question: what happens when the guardians become the source of disruption? The CrowdStrike-related outage was not caused by a cyberattack, but rather by a defect in a software update, highlighting the importance of operational resilience beyond just cybersecurity measures. Analysts estimate the global cost of this outage to be as high as $24 billion as of now.

Uneven Recovery for SMBs

A Techaisle survey of 600 small businesses indicates that 34% expect customer reputation damage and 23% anticipate significant bottom-line impacts due to operational challenges. Logistics complications from inventory management to shipment tracking caused business friction. Communication issues with clients, suppliers, and staff led to delays and missed opportunities, while financial activities like processing payments and managing invoices suffered. Some businesses also faced customer service obstacles, leading to customer dissatisfaction and reputational harm.

The recent CrowdStrike outage has highlighted the essential need for dependable tech in today’s businesses and the severe impact that short downtimes can have, especially on SMBs. It's a stark reminder of the importance of solid IT frameworks and contingency planning. Small businesses suffer disproportionally during such outages due to leaner cyber defenses and limited personnel, which are significant hurdles when crises strike. The manual resolution required here spotlighted these weaknesses. Small IT teams, typically stretched thin with various duties, found it tough to manage the fix across several devices, leading to overtime work to fix crucial operations.

Techaisle's study on SMB and Midmarket Security Adoption Trends projects that IT security spending by small and mid-sized businesses worldwide is expected to reach US$90 billion in 2024, showing a 9.4% increase from the previous year. In the US alone, the market expenditure is set to rise by 8.3%. Significant investments will concentrate on Endpoint Protection, Network Security, and Identity and Access Management, with MDR (Manage, Detect, Respond) services seeing the most rapid growth in the SMB and midmarket sectors.

A significant increase in funding for IT security is projected among high-growth SMBs. Notably, 21% of rapidly growing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMBs) and 26% of mid-sized companies are forecasting a minimum growth of 15% in their IT security budgets for 2024. Highly innovative organizations are committed to improving security measures as well, with 18% of SMBs and 21% of midmarket companies planning to boost their spending by 12% compared to the previous year.

Techaisle's data also reveals a concerning cybersecurity preparedness gap among small and medium-sized businesses, with 42% having no cyber incident response plan. Despite nearly half experiencing security breaches, often going unnoticed, only 40% are confident in their recovery capabilities, likely downplaying the risks. These cyberattacks come at a high cost, with SMBs' average annual losses reaching $1.4 million. Contributing to this issue is the fact that 46% of these businesses lack formal risk assessment methods, indicating a serious underestimation of online threats.

Addressing SMB and Midmarket security issues can be done through various lenses. Segmenting security adoption into four categories—Prevent & Protect, Detect & Respond, Adapt & Comply, Restore & Recover—provides an understanding of preferred solutions and areas poised for growth. This framework helps clarify how these companies prioritize and distribute funds for cybersecurity strategies.