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2013-07-23

Wireless Printing: Passwords are a Must


In the current technological age, so much is powered by computers and so many businesses are fully reliant on computer technology. As technology has developed over the years, so have the hardware and software sides of computing. Printers, that once had to be manually plugged into a computer, have now been developed to the point where they can operate as wireless entities. Wireless means that information is transferred between two or more sources which are not connected by an electrical conductor (i.e. a cable).







These days almost all internet connection on computers is wireless, the computer picks up the signal omitted from the modem and connects to the internet in the same way it would were it plugged in. Even older computers that do not have an in-built wireless connection can become wireless through use of a wireless USB stick. Wireless printers work in more or less the same way; a signal in the printer picks up a signal from the PC or laptop in question and configures with it so that the user can print without having to plug their computer into the printer.


In a business environment wireless multifunction printers, such as the Epson Workforce Pro, can prove invaluable. Many businesses have a plethora of information that they need to print off on any given day; reports, invoices, letters, figures etc. For this reason it is necessary that all employees in a business have readily available access to printing, otherwise there will be queues to use the printer and important work may not be printed in time. In other words it would be impractical to run a successful business without the use of one or several wireless printers.


However, despite the uses of wireless printing it is still pertinent to ensure that security measures are put in place in the form of passwords. Without password protection there could be breaches of security; people may have access to work or sensitive material that they are not supposed to have access to. Without password protection individuals may be able to print this sensitive information and thus release it to the outside world.



Another reason password security is paramount is that it can protect employees. Each computer should be password protected and each colleague should have to enter their password before being permitted to print anything. The importance of this is obvious, without passwords an employee could access their colleagues computer and print a silly or offensive piece of material; something poking fun at the boss perhaps. No one knows that the individual accessed a computer that wasn't theirs and so the colleague whose computer was used will most likely be blamed and could face disciplinary action. It is for this reason that colleagues must also ensure that their passwords remain secret when they are given them.