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[Closed] Wifi direct printer security?

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I've got a wifi direct HP printer...just turned it on and its printed a mysterious message...

It says;

[i]greetings (my nickname)

Then a link to http://www.tpcus.com and a long string afterwards

Warm Regards

My fullname inc surname[/i]

Now the greeting and regards message isn't a term I'd normally use, and first part of the domain doesn't go anywhere, although I haven't tried the full string, I suppose that could lead somewhere. As its printed, you'd have to type in and its quite long winded.

Should I be worried, and how do I find out if my printer has been voting for Donald Trump, or is on primed to partake in a DoS attack against cyclingweekly?!

I don't know why the printer would turn on me like this, I treated it to a full set of ink cartridges last week so I could print some Collect+ labels 🙁


 
Posted : 13/12/2016 7:57 pm
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The next big internet killer is "Internet of Things" viruses, taking over all manner of insecure devices from thermostats to printers and turning them into a huge botnet.

HP have form here.

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/106945-tens-of-millions-of-hp-laserjet-printers-vulnerable-to-hacking


 
Posted : 13/12/2016 9:08 pm
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Hmmm...old article but I wonder if HP sorted themselves out. My printer is probably 2015, a Photosmart 5520. I just turned it on again and no new message this time!


 
Posted : 14/12/2016 10:26 pm
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Isn't that just a junk email? I suspect your printer has an email address that will print anything sent to it. It's a shame the spammers have it though.

If you don't use it, you ought to be able to disable this functionality.


 
Posted : 15/12/2016 7:09 am
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Seems to be a known problem - Google "hp printer spam"


 
Posted : 15/12/2016 7:55 am
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Hmm. I've just bought an HP printer with this functionality. Worried now.


 
Posted : 15/12/2016 9:47 am
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OK, looks like you can just turn off the feature, or restrict the email addresses it will accept jobs from.

[url= http://support.hp.com/us-en/product/HP-ENVY-110-e-All-in-One-Printer-series---D4/5070119/model/5070124/document/c05239610/ ]CLICK[/url]


 
Posted : 15/12/2016 9:54 am