Has anyone used this site?

[fredk]

Well, it happened to me, twice. The last time was in March this year. My computer repair chappie traced the virus to an attachment to a PDF file. When that was sent to the printer it changed the printer settings and disabled it. It was a simple fix for him; clean out the printer and re-install the drivers or whatever direct from HP. And delete that PDF

[SUP]

@MtlBiker It does happen. I have heard of it happening which is why I am usually careful with downloads. This one slipped through. I will try to remember where  found that pattern. I promptly deleted it so will need to search for it.

The thing is, I would have thought my old printer just broke down but in between 2 printing jobs, and not within one? The dieselpunk.ro one had 44 pages printed, in Poster format! They all printed perfectly and then this one, a couple of pages, were all out of kilter. Too much of a co-incidence to be a sudden printer failure, I think.

 @fredk you were lucky to find repair people who knew what to do. I thought that would be the solution too.

@MtlBiker I will look for that pattern and send you the link if I find it.

Anyway, I got a nice new printer.

[chuck123wapati]

57 minutes ago, MtlBiker said:

@SUP - I've been thinking about the experience you reported for a few days and the possibility of that happening worried me as everyone in my company and myself included often downloads files from the web and prints them.  Those could be text files, graphics, PDFs, etc.  So I asked questions about this on a couple of the computer tech sites I frequent.  The overwhelming majority of replies insist this couldn't happen, but here are some of the comments...

"You can theoretically give a printer a virus by altering its firmware but it is highly doubtful a file that is sent to the printer would do that. It is called firmware for a reason and there are mechanisms built it to prevent anything from changing it."

"No, this is the same hocus pocus logic that JayzTwoCents used in claiming that NewWorld was killing graphics cards. Imagine how widespread fatal malware would be if such a thing was actually possible. Hardware is either built well or it isn’t. End of story."

"Technically absolutely. But did it happen? VEEEEERRRYYYYY low chance. More likely the printer just happened to die during that print due to some hardware issue.  So, in theory, a badly written printer firmware could screw up and destroy itself (or the settings). After all, settings can obviously be written to, same goes for firmware on most modern devices. The chance that the manufacturer has such a bad bug in their firmware that straight up kills the printer by writing garbage are, as they say, low, but never zero."

I have a sandboxed computer and printer that's not on my network and I'd love to try that file.  Would you share the details of exactly where/how to find that file?

anything hooked to the net can get hacked.

https://www.poweradmin.com/blog/how-to-keep-malware-out-of-your-printers/

https://cybernews.com/security/we-hacked-28000-unsecured-printers-to-raise-awareness-of-printer-security-issues/

 

[Northmount]

I have a 400 page book on printer programming.  Not all commands work for all breeds of printers.  That can be a problem, especially if it hit default settings.  And yes, you can change the printer's defaults so when you shut it off and restart it, the defaults don't return to your previous settings.

Spammers are embedding malicious code in container, archive, or compressed media files that supposedly contain something you want to open or install.  PDFs, MSI, etc.  If you receive emails that have container files attached, be very careful.  Make sure they are from a reliable source. 

There are other safer and more reliable ways of transferring large files.

 

[SUP]

@MtlBiker  not finding that pattern. I know it was some sort of bookmark. But when I search, there are so many, I am at a loss.

@Northmount exactly. Spammers and hackers have so many ways of causing harm!  I never download anything from emails that I receive. and I check the raw message to see where most emails arrive from as well. Hackers are so good these days that they can create very authentic looking emails and logos of well known companies, banks for example. 

This was something that I was not even looking for.. a bookmark that looked like a fun thing. Now when I look for it to send  @MtlBiker the link, I cannot find it.

The default damage happened to one of my earlier printers a long time ago, maybe 10-12 years - that I could reset. Simpler world then, I guess and easier solutions.

[Wepster]

A bit off topic, but years ago I was trying to print something for a friend, my HP inkjet was not behaving correctly. Spent close to two hours on the phone with HP tech support. For my situation, windows (think it was 98) had a font that screwed up the printer. Was not even a font that was being used, just an obscure font tucked away. Deleted the font, and the printer was fine. Very strange.

[SUP]

@Wepster Wow. The thing is, everything is code written by people. So depending on how that is written and co-relates to everything else,  systems work, or they don't. I was in tech myself as is my husband, and sometimes, seeing how there is such a 'will do' attitude to the code being written or being passed for release, I have nightmares. Everything seems to be held together with a lick and a promise. Add to that the increasing number of hackers and spammers worldwide. 

This AI craze is crazy as well. AI is as good as the code written by humans - who are fallible.  Too much science fiction, too little common sense. As dumb as those google glasses a decade ago. 

Sorry..one of my hobby horses. Off it now.

[Wepster]

1 hour ago, SUP said:

@Wepster Wow. The thing is, everything is code written by people. So depending on how that is written and co-relates to everything else,  systems work, or they don't. I was in tech myself as is my husband, and sometimes, seeing how there is such a 'will do' attitude to the code being written or being passed for release, I have nightmares. Everything seems to be held together with a lick and a promise. Add to that the increasing number of hackers and spammers worldwide. 

This AI craze is crazy as well. AI is as good as the code written by humans - who are fallible.  Too much science fiction, too little common sense. As dumb as those google glasses a decade ago. 

Sorry..one of my hobby horses. Off it now.

"The flapping of the wings of a butterfly can be felt on the other side of the world."

"For want of a nail..."

It seems humanity has long felt the inter-relatedness, and how tiny things can have large results.

[SUP]

@Wepster very true.

[DwightT]

FWIW: Before I retired I worked on printer firmware, specifically in the code for downloading and installing new firmware for an update.  Obviously I can't say anything for older printers or for printers from other manufacturers, but as MtlBiker noted for newer printers at least it would be very unlikely that a virus embedded in a PDF file could cause damage to the printer.  Any downloads that would change printer firmware or configuration settings must be in a very specific stand-alone format (not part of a valid print job), and must have a valid digital signature that verifies that it came from the manufacturer.  The keys used to sign that download are closely held by very few people in the company, so it is very unlikely that a download would be accepted by the printer unless it really was from the manufacturer.

So in short, while there is always a minuscule chance that a print job could contain a virus that could damage a printer, it would be so unlikely to have an impact on newer printers that I wouldn't worry about it.  On the other hand, if anybody does happen to encounter such a print file, I would love to get a copy so that I could pass it on to my colleagues at my old employer.

    /dwight