12
The SSL Certificate is a digital “key” that must first be installed on both the device and the sending PC
via Web Image Monitor or SmartDeviceMonitor. Think of the SSL Certificate as an electronic credit card
that verifies the user’s credentials and gives/denies permission to send data to a networked device in a
way that cannot be understood or reassembled by anything other than the destination unit.
The NDPU/SSL Certificate perform two functions:
1. Encrypts entire files using the IPP
(Internet Printing
Protocol) by reassembling scrambled blocks of data sent
to it from a PC into proper order for printing.
2.
Requires entry of an
encrypted password to print a PDF
file.
The user must enter a corresponding password at the
printer to output the file, or the print job will be cancelled.
Address Book Encryption
Address Book Encryption protects contact information by encrypting the data stored in a system’s
address book. Even if the HDD is physically removed from the unit, the data cannot be read. This
function eliminates the danger of a company’s or department’s entire population of employees,
customers, or vendors being targeted for malicious e-mail messages or PC virus contamination. Further,
since address book data usually corresponds to user names and passwords used elsewhere on the
network, protecting printer/MFP address book data increases overall network security.
Encrypted PDF Transmission
Adobe’s PDF file format has become the universal standard for creating documents that can easily be
opened and shared by any user on any platform. Adobe provides the Acrobat® Reader® application as a
free download across the Web. A PDF file is essentially a snapshot of a document. It is unchangeable
(although files are editable with the full Adobe Acrobat application) and therefore attractive to document
owners that wish to share, but restrict alterations, to approved documents. Part of the attraction of the
PDF format is that file sizes are drastically reduced versus those of the native application, making them
easier and faster to e-mail.
While Adobe offers a number of security-related
features within the Acrobat application to lock and
password-protect documents, there is nothing to pre-
vent the files from being intercepted in a decipherable
form while traveling over the network. That’s where
Ricoh’s Encrypted PDF Transmission function adds
value, scrambling and encrypting the data that would
otherwise be a very
transparent
document during
transmission. Users may choose between 40-bit and
128-bit encryption, and set recipient rights to allow
changes to or extract content from the document.
(See also PDF Password Encryption.)