You've undoubtedly gone to great lengths to secure your network and intellectual property as well as to safeguard your client's confidences, but have you considered your digital office products from the perspective of your security infrastructure.

The evolution of copiers into true, digital multifunction systems has been an asset to office productivity, allowing you to better manage the documents that move your business. However, if unprotected, these devices can create a breach in your security architecture, posing the security risk that unauthorized parties can gain access to your intellectual property and confidential information.

You've made a large investment to protect your network, intellectual property and the privacy of your clients. Now your digital multifunction systems and network printers can be part of your comprehensive security portfolio solution.

The digital multifunction system's ability to manage image data for printing, scanning, faxing and copying creates versatile efficiency in your workflow, which is achieved through the innovation of the microprocessor and memory devices designed to handle electronic image data.

But, did you ever ask yourself what happens to that image data after the job is complete?

Most MFPs store image data in memory such as hard disk drives, the kind used in PCs. And just like a PC, the latent image data remains until that disk sector is overwritten.

So, even if you think the data is deleted, it may not really be the case. The hard disk has a 'management data area' and a 'real data area', and when you delete data, you are only deleting data from the management data area, leaving the real data intact.

This means that documents could be accessed from the unit's hard drive from a PC and reprinted...or worse, what happens if the unit's hard drive is replaced, moved or even outright stolen... who has that data now? That's why we've developed the Data Security Kit. This feature first encrypts and then overwrites latent image data used in all system memory...mitigating this threat and helping to protect the confidentiality of your information.

This two step process, the initial encryption combined with multiple overwrites of data, provides a higher level of security than many processes currently used by other manufacturers.

Well, today, there is an international IT security evaluation alliance called Common Criteria, of which countries such as the USA and the UK are members.

Some Sharp's Digital IMAGER™ models were the first office equipment MFP products to receive this coveted validation. Sharp continues to be a leader in document security solutions, currently offering a second generation of Common Criteria validated products in some models.

Sharp offers the following Security products, tools and applications:

• Sharp Security Suite
• Sharp Data Security Kit (DSK)
• Sharp Secure Network Interface
• AirZip FileSECURE
• Sharp Security Library