Intelligent CISO Issue 24 | Page 46

industry unlocked highly valuable electronics such as circuit boards or chips. The proper labelling can deter theft of this type of inventory and provide track-and-trace assistance should they go missing. No matter what type of label you need to print, just ensure that both the thermal printer and labels themselves are designed to combat ink fading, tampering and even normal wear and tear through human and machine processing methods. The label needs to be readable at all times, whether by a barcode scanner, overhead RFID reader or a worker trying to determine if a shipment contains hazardous materials. It’s also hard to maintain a first-in-first-out rotation for perishable items if the date isn’t clearly printed on the plastic, cardboard, aluminium or glass packaging. Don’t forget to prioritise printer security Every single connected device in your warehouse or DC needs to be locked down – printers included. They contain a great deal of operational intelligence and can be targets just like your mobile computing devices and servers. That’s why Zebra introduced PrintSecure and why we’ve built our Printer Profile Manager Enterprise to enable IT staff to maintain the most up-to-date security on Zebra printers. Being able to remotely manage, troubleshoot and configure fleets of thermal printers from a single location are among a few of the nine measures Controlling access to your facility is the first step to keeping workers and data physically safe. you can take to increase device and data security, as is encrypting all of your printer connections and rotating credentials. I also recommend that you invest in a printer that has security capabilities built into its operating system, as it will make it easier to configure printers to use secure connections, block unwanted access and ensure that data and infrastructure are protected. In summary Take a close, hard look at the card, RFID and label printers in your warehouse. Are they able to produce the type of cards and labels you need to improve your warehouse safety and security with tools like PrintSecure? Do they offer the enterprise-grade IT security controls you need to prevent unauthorised access to your entire Industrial IoT (IIoT) architecture? If not, you may want to upgrade your printers sooner rather than later. u 46 Issue 24 | www.intelligentciso.com