Printers are spontaneously printing odd "SQL" strings
Many, perhaps most network-connected printers, NAS units, and other devices (e.g., home-automation hardware) simply assume that the local network they connect to will be securely protected from external attack, so they're not configured to withstand even the simplest of attacks.<p>This is exactly the <i>opposite</i> of what many security experts recommend: ideally all devices should be secure regardless of whether the network they're on is secure or not.  With more and more devices offering remote-Internet-access functionality every day, this principle of security is becoming ever more fundamental.<p>Bruce Schneier's personal WiFi network at home is fully open, because -- in his own words: "If I configure my computer to be secure regardless of the network it's on, then it simply doesn't matter. And if my computer isn't secure on a public network, securing my own network isn't going to reduce my risk very much."[1]<p>Like rachelbythebay, I'm also waiting for the great network printer security apocalypse.[2]<p>--<p>[1] <a href="http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/01/my_open_wireles.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/01/my_open_wirele...</a><p>[2] <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4412522" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4412522</a><p>--<p>UPDATE: Just for the heck of it, I ran a fairly fast scan (nmap -T4 -A -v -PE [IP address]) on an HP all-in-one printer accessible over my LAN, and there were a LOT of open ports -- see pasted results below.  I then pointed my browser to port 9100 on the printer, which instantly printed the HTTP headers without complaint.  The printer's configuration page reports that it is "secured" by an administrative password.<p><pre><code>  PORT     STATE SERVICE      VERSION
  80/tcp   open  http         HP PhotoSmart/Deskjet printer http config (Virata embedded httpd 6_0_1)
  139/tcp  open  netbios-ssn?
  6839/tcp open  tcpwrapped
  7435/tcp open  tcpwrapped
  8089/tcp open  tcpwrapped
  9100/tcp open  jetdirect?
  9101/tcp open  jetdirect?
  9102/tcp open  jetdirect?
  9110/tcp open  unknown
  9220/tcp open  hp-gsg       HP Generic Scan Gateway 1.0
  9290/tcp open  hp-gsg       IEEE 1284.4 scan peripheral gateway
  9500/tcp open  unknown</code></pre>