nufnuf77

Sorry I am chuckling to myself but I was trying to find a way to remotely connect to one of the two printers in the CCR this morning. As it is material I cannot email to myself or log onto on another computer I thought this was the safest way to do so.

Upon my unsuccessful attempts I asked the BA staff at the desk next to the CCR office who said those printers cannot have any wireless connections onto them due to official secret act and security.

I realised I made a mistake by asking, but seriously, is there a terrorist who is gonna print some paper airplanes or what?,,......

DoctorCopper

Staff quoting you the ‘Official Secrets Act’ seems a little OTT. However, if you could connect to the printers wirelessly then so could a terrorist. As far as I am aware, the printers are connected to the BA system. In the wrong hands, anything could happen. FLY might even go down. 😉

Doc Copper

Kgmm77

Given what you know about BAs IT security would you really be comfortable connecting your work device wirelessly when you admit you wouldn’t be comfortable emailing or accessing via the web on a BA PC?!

flatlander

Not answering the security policy question, but my approach to printing stuff is:

• print to PDF
• save to a place I can reach with a web browser (Google Drive is such a place)
• fetch the PDF with its unique hard-to-guess URL using the browser on the BA computers and print the PDF from the BA computer
• delete the PDF from the public web service.

Data exposure is minimised, I don't login to the BA computer, and I don't need to network my own laptop to the printer, only to the Internet.

cameramaker

If they have an email to print function, that’d be the easiest way to do it.

1. Send email with the attachment that needs printing to the print server email address
2. Receive unique code
3. Approach device, enter code and collect print

Nick Art

You guys realize there is a chance your secret documents get saved to the printer cache and therefore accessibke to anybody who has access tonthat drive? If its really such sensitive material you might not want to use public printers.

abligh

Note this approach is likely to transfer the file to the hard disk of the BA computer in question at step 3. At the very least you'll want to delete the file and empty the recycle bin (or equivalent). Note this won't securely delete it. Also note any virus or similar on the computer in question will be able to do what it likes with your data.

I would avoid doing this with any seriously confidential data.

OT: one of my favourite "need to print something" moments was in the Taj in Bombay. When I asked to print a file I was sent to the business centre. They asked me to email the file to them and I looked a bit reluctant, and they assured me their service was highly confidential etc. etc. I did so, they printed it, and gave it to me saying "10 crosswords? Is that right?" - they then realised my hesitancy had actually been sheepishness at asking them to print crosswords.

rufflesinc

clearly the only secure method is to travel with your own portable printer

UKtravelbear

The important questions are

1. Was it 276 pages long?

2. Did you have a pile high plate of breakfast to eat whilst it was printing?

nufnuf77

HAHA, i didnt eat breakfast today and no, it was 69 pages and i didnt print it as i could get it done securely. Incidentally I do have a portable canon printer referenced above but its at home, really slow, and doesnt print double sided.

HIDDY

Indeed.....you'd never see James Bond using a printer in the CCR. More likely to be seen at the bar sipping a Babycham.

UKtravelbear

James is more of a VS man these days and he'd be sipping away on a Vesper Martini in the Clubhouse.

LCY8737

Isn't it time for James to be a womaninzing black woman?

If security really is a concern then I would neither print the document nor connect the device to any network - be that wifi or printer.

GUWonder

Don’t ignore the exotic Bond babe, HIDDY, that is supposed to be there too. It could be a view to a kill. Isn’t it time for an Argentine Bond Girl, or has that already happened?

missdimeaner

As a person who was required to sign the official secrets act years ago (think 1970s) for working on guidance systems, there can be a lot of reasons that particular reason applies
Wifi is one I guess - who knows... it’s probably a secret.