Home News Konica Minolta releases Shield Guard

Konica Minolta releases Shield Guard

| 1 April 2022

Cloud-based solution offers remote MFP security monitoring and management

Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe (Konica Minolta) is pleased to announce the release of its new cloud service for remote security monitoring and management for MFPs. An intelligent solution that provides automatic notifications and remediation, Shield Guard allows businesses to control the security status of multiple MFPs from anywhere.

Security vulnerability with most MFPs/printers begins when a device is attached to the network with factory-default settings in place. And with distributed workforces dominating the workplace for nearly two years now, security of MFPs is more critical than ever. Managing security settings of multiple MFPs is difficult, and admin users often struggle with setting and remembering strong passwords. Businesses need to overcome these challenges or face the ramifications of data breaches, which can have drastic effects. In fact, a recent study by Allianz reports that 71 percent of customers said they would leave an organisation after a data breach ¹. By installing Shield Guard, businesses can enjoy immediate piece of mind that all its devices are protected.

Shield Guard’s advanced admin control features allow more control over data, all remotely via the cloud. The solution makes fleet management easy and efficient, managing security policies, grouping devices and creating reports that can be exported and distributed. Alerts notify admins of escalated devices, unsecured MFP statuses and device and policy assessments as they happen. Other key features include:

Policy Assessments - Admins can set policies for all devices, individuals' devices, or device groups. The system performs an assessment of the MFPs compliance to the policy.
Notifications - Assessment findings are included in the dashboard, logs and reports on the portal. Security alert pop-ups and a list of escalated devices can be seen right from the dashboard.
Security alerts via email or SMS - Automatically sends alerts when the policy is compromised. Administrators can receive alerts via email or SMS.
Remediation plan - Provides a structured approach to mitigating security threats. Detects failed security settings and automatically applies the correct policy settings.

Shield Guard works with Konica Minolta’s bizhub SECURE portfolio, which offers three different levels of service for each individual business’ needs. The bizhub SECURE service can be activated on any Konica Minolta bizhub MFP, either on-premises or prior to delivery. With Shield Guard all security settings can be afterwards monitored in the cloud. The admin experience includes:

Access to a graphical security dashboard for easy monitoring and management to view multiple machines status from your browser. View status with simple graphics and visual indicators.
Easy fleet management with visibility of the entire fleet from one remote location.
Admin control over multiple MFPs collectively via a web browser and set secure passwords remotely

The built-in security features of our bizhub multifunction devices can be extensively enhanced with bizhub SECURE, providing an additional layer of comprehensive protection. With Shield Guard, we are now taking the security of our MFPs to a new level. Remote monitoring and management from the cloud gives greater control over data. Administrators are notified of potential security issues as soon as they occur. This means there are no time gaps that could pose a threat to the business.

Torben Mowka

Product Manager, Portfolio Strategy & Management, International Marketing Division, Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe

The introduction of ShieldGuard is an important step by Konica Minolta to further expand its Printer Security offering. Konica Minolta's leadership in this area was recently confirmed by Quocirca, which ranked the digital workplace provider as a leader in printer security.²

Learn more about Shield Guard with our bizhub SECURE solution.

¹ https://www.agcs.allianz.com/content/dam/onemarketing/agcs/agcs/reports/AGCS-Cyberrisk-report.pdf
² Quocirca, 2022: The Print Security Landscape, 2022. Securing the remote and hybrid workforce, https://quocirca.com/quocirca-print-security-landscape-2022/

Boilerplate

About Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe

Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe GmbH, based in Langenhagen, Germany, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Konica Minolta Inc., Tokyo, Japan. With its unique expertise in imaging, data processing and data-based decision making, Konica Minolta creates relevant solutions for its customers - small and medium-sized businesses, large enterprises and public sector - and solves issues faced by society.

As a digital workplace solution provider, Konica Minolta helps its clients to identify and unlock the potential digitalisation holds and reach the next level in the digital maturity of their organisation by rethinking the workplace. In support of an ‘Intelligent connected workplace’, Konica Minolta offers cloud, IT, managed print and video solution services for remote working, collaboration, workflow management and automation and security. The company’s success in driving transformation is also confirmed by IDC, since the ‘IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Print Transformation 2023 Vendor Assessment’ has named Konica Minolta a “Leader” in print transformation. Konica Minolta has been a Microsoft Global Managed Partner since 2021.

Konica Minolta's Igniting Print Possibilities offering helps printers, converters and brand owners maximise workflow automation to increase efficiency. The company delivers consultancy in all communication matters as well as top-of-the-line production, packaging as well as label printers. Its finishing devices create print products that stand out and create added value. Konica Minolta has established itself as the production printing market leader for more than a decade in Europe (InfoSource).

For an increasing number of organisations, success today is more than the narrow definition of financial prosperity – it also includes protecting the environment and having a positive impact on their workforce as well as the societies they are embedded in. With its commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Konica Minolta has pledged to consistently pursue its sustainability and social responsibility goals.

The company has been repeatedly recognised for its rich history of social contribution as well as for working towards achieving the SDGs throughout its business and supply chain. Konica Minolta received a GOLD Level Recognition Medal in the EcoVadis sustainability ratings for 2023.

For its remote services, Konica Minolta was awarded the prestigious ‘Buyers Lab (BLI) 2023-2024 Pacesetter Award in Remote Service for the Western European market’ from Keypoint Intelligence.

Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe is represented by subsidiaries and distributors in more than 80 countries in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa. With more than 8,700 employees (as of April 2023), Konica Minolta Europe earned net sales of over EUR 2.26 billion in financial year 2022/2023.

Worldwide, the company has over 39,000 employees and is operating in over 150 countries.

For more information, please visit https://www.konicaminolta.eu/eu-en/news and follow Konica Minolta on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Terms and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and are hereby acknowledged.

Contact

Melanie Olbrich

Senior Expert Content Strategy & Development, Corporate Communications

melanie.olbrich@konicaminolta.eu

+49 (0)511 7404-5337