printer sharing

hey guys,

I know sharing files/printer is a security risk, but is there any secure way of sharing my printer on my network? Any specific programs (free) that made just for this?

krayziefomore

 

Hi krayziefomore

Is your network behind a router? If so, LAN systems along with file/print shares would already be protected from outside connection attempts. You can always password protect any shares and if running a software firewall on the LAN systems you could restrict that communication to allowed systems.

There are a few good free software firewalls available.

Regards,

CrazyM

 

hey crazy M,

I am behind a router, so it would be totally safe to run file/printing? Are there any free programs that can encrypt data or make it more secure to a specific lan IP?

krayziefomore

 

Running file/printer shares on the LAN (behind the router) is OK as those systems remain private and are not accessible by outside systems.

Do you feel this is something you really need to do? The file shares and associated communication between LAN systems cannot be seen or accessed by the outside. Any systems you do not trust on the LAN?

When setting up shares on individual systems you can password protect and define through permissions what other users will have access to and what they can do with it. If you feel you need to restrict access further to certain systems on the LAN, you could use a firewall on the LAN systems and configure it to allow file/printer shares only with the specified IP's.

Regards,

CrazyM