Why gaming your printer could doom your security posture

The Internet of Things (IoT) is something of a buzz-phrase right now, and locking down the IoT is certainly something that vendors across both security and hardware industries are talking up. The problem with the publicity surrounding stories of 'things' that have been hacked is that, well, they never really have much potential impact right here, right now, to you or your business. So someone managed to break into an Internet-connected baby monitoring device and make creepy announcements over it, or there's the potential to control an Internetified self-driving car in the future; neither of which fill me with dread about the security of my data as is, it has to be said. However, maybe you and I are missing the point. Maybe we need to broaden our definition of what things this Internet of them actually comprises. How about printers, for example? Stand up if you have a printer which isn't connected to your network and the Internet beyond? I'm guessing there are lots of you still sitting down, I certainly am. There's part of the IoT right there which represents a very real threat to your security posture, and you probably didn't know it.