Security News Epson Reportedly Issued Firmware Updates to Disable Third-Party Ink Support

[LASER_oneXM]

Content source

https://news.softpedia.com/news/epson-reportedly-issued-firmware-updates-to-disable-third-party-ink-support-523193.shtml

If true, could convince users not to update printer software

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) sent a letter to the Texas Attorney General's office regarding possible firmware updates released by Epson for their printers which disabled support for third-party inks.

Moreover, the EFF found out about Epson's problematic firmware upgrade from a Texas supporter and sent a letter to the Texas Attorney General's office asking the consumer protection division to take a closer look into the reported third-party ink disabling incident.

Although Epson's firmware updates reportedly did nothing else besides restricting a printer's functionality, this can lead to serious cybersecurity issues if true because it has the potential of convincing customers that firmware upgrades are something to be avoided.

Having unpatched printer firmware on a corporate network is even more dangerous given that on multiple occasions security researchers have found out that such devices can be used as both entry and pivot points during corporate network attacks.

Printers left unpatched are vulnerable to multiple types of attacks, with denial of service, privilege escalation, print job access, information disclosure, and code execution being the most important.

 

[Eddie Morra]

Someone is desperate for income.

 

[ForgottenSeer 69673]

It doesn't appear to be software related. Firmware
"If true, could convince users not to update printer software"

 

[Local Host]

This has been a thing for over a decade, wonder why everyone is so surprised.
HP used to do this (don't know if they still do), and there are ways around it by refilling the cartridges with ink (which is cheaper overall).