A hot topic among nonprofits in the last few years has been "how can we secure our sensitive data and client records when staff are using laptops, smartphones, iPads and other devices to do their work?"  Organizations are dealing with this risk in different ways, but may be failing to pay attention to another security hole:  digital photocopiers.

According to a recent article featured at CBSnews.com, digital photocopiers can be gold mines for data thieves.  Unlike older analog photocopiers, digital photocopiers have hard drives and retain information that is copied, scanned or faxed.

When an organization trades in its digital photocopier for a new model, many times the hard drive will not be scrubbed by the company re-selling or refurbishing the traded-in copier.  This leaves information on the hard drive intact and available to those who know how to steal it.

For more information about this issue, read the full article "Digital Photocopiers Loaded with Secrets" and be sure to ask your photocopier vendor for details on hard drive scrubbing before trading in your digital photocopier in the future.