Printer Hack Actually an Act of Goodwill

The hacker was able to use an automated script, which he wrote himself, to find printing devices with Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), Line Printer Daemon (LPD), and port 9100 open, then sent out his jocular messages to more than 160,000 machines, reported TechRadar. (image: KobizMedia/ Korea Bizwire)

SEOUL, Feb. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – A new printer hack that was reported on in the U.S. last week has also reached South Korea. 

EST Security, a local web security firm, said Monday that it was aware of multiple instances of customers reporting that their devices printed messages saying “your printer has been owned,” and that they were “part of a flaming botnet.” 

In turned out that the “attack” was part of a prank by a hacker going by the name of Stackoverflowin, who decided to demonstrate the vulnerability of non-firewalled internet-connected printers (and payment terminals), with no ill intentions or racial discrimination – like a similar hack in 2016 that made printers produce anti-Semitic fliers. 

The hacker was able to use an automated script, which he wrote himself, to find printing devices with Internet Printing Protocol (IPP), Line Printer Daemon (LPD), and port 9100 open, then sent out his jocular messages to more than 160,000 machines, reported TechRadar.

He even gave kind advice to the “victims” with a message “close this port (9100), skid.”

Although the incident was nothing more than mischief with heartfelt intent, EST Security noted that printer hacks can have more serious consequences. 

“Hackers can cause all sorts of device malfunctions, including sending mass printing jobs,” said an official. “Under such circumstances, it’s best for users to disconnect the printer from the internet, and switch the device’s external IP address to an internal network.”

By Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)