Hewlett Packard (HP) wants you to know that although you pay more upfront when you buy original brand new HP ink cartridges, it "can actually save you money in the long run." Yes, that's right. Since the 1980s, I have been hearing alarms from printer vendors.
I don't buy it. Most printer owners do not. Nor can companies buy printers (and ink) for the office or for new remote employees who have to open a shop at home.
According to the 2019 Consumer Reports survey on printer usage, “the most common complaint is the high cost and trouble of replacing ink cartridges-this affects every inkjet brand in our survey.”
guess what? I have been using replacement inks and cartridges for many years, and in the long run, I have saved money. The documents I printed look good, and my printer is as easy to use as before. I don't mind buying real ink, but it's too expensive. Today, the price of inkjet ink per gallon is as high as $12,000. I like good wine, but I will not pay $2,400 a bottle for it.
Now, this is bad news, but it is old bad news. For decades, we have been dealing with it and my favorite printer annoyance-if cyan or other colors are low, refuse to print in black and white.
Recently, however, printer vendors have begun to use locked firmware updates to patch their printers to prevent users from refilling ink cartridges or purchasing replacement ink cartridges. The last time HP and Epson tried this technique was in 2016. Do you really want the vendor to deliberately use malicious patches to damage your printer or any other equipment? I definitely won't.
When HP introduced the so-called cartridge protection setting, another change in the theme appeared. This will not only prevent you from using alternatives, but it will also lock the original ink cartridges to a specific printer, for example, if you have an HP OfficeJet Pro 251dw printer and an HP OfficeJet Pro 8600 ink printer, even if they are using the exact same HP 950 and 951 Ink Cartridge-Once used, the ink cartridge cannot be transferred between models. Is it fun or something?
(Fortunately, bypassing the cartridge protection setting is not too difficult.)
The latest way to ensure that the supplier is in charge is to insist that the printer will not print the page unless they have an Internet connection and are linked to an "HP Smart" account. According to HP, you must connect HP LaserJet M209dwe, MFP M234dwe, M234sdne, and M234sdwe printers to an HP Smart account for them to work. (I expect other printers to face the same annoying requirements soon.)
I am not happy about it. This is not just because I am sure that this will monitor my ink or my laser cartridge. I am very angry because this is a major security hole in my network. I don’t want printers connected to my network without authorization to report who knows what to HP.
Of course, HP is unlikely to care what I am printing. But any printer is a security hole waiting to be opened. Printers with built-in permanent online connections are just asking for trouble. Oops, we are still struggling with the security of the Windows print spooler; I really don't need another hole in my network.
Printers have always been a weak security link. think about it. Do you allow all users to access networked printers? Most of us do this. In turn, this means that smart users in the mailroom can see what the CEO has been printing.
To make matters worse, most modern printers are equipped with an Embedded Web Server (EWS) to manage settings, get updates, and perform routine maintenance tasks. Yes, it is very convenient-but is it safe? Have you patched it recently? Do you still know?
Ten years ago, Black Hat security researchers discovered that many printers equipped with EWS were not securely hardened at all. In fact, these devices can be obtained directly from the Internet, and often they are not even password protected.
Although I haven't studied the current state of printer security in detail, I did check out my own and a few friends' small business printers. guess what? They are all as vulnerable as ever.
I have not turned off my printer. However, if you really need me to provide "paper" copies of certain documents, would you mind if I send you a PDF file? I will not use my printer.
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols has been writing articles about technology and technical business, because CP/M-80 is a cutting-edge PC operating system, 300bps is a fast Internet connection, WordStar is the most advanced word processor, and we like it!
Copyright © 2021 IDG Communications, Inc.
Copyright © 2021 IDG Communications, Inc.