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My Epson Printer Hacked My Router
03/07/2020 | CharlesOconnell

Posted on 03/07/2020 6:40:51 AM PST by CharlesOConnell

The printer installation bypassed my router's security. Essentially, it asked for a "User ID", the router name, but not the password: presumably, on the pretext of user convenience. It means, I could hijack my neighbors' routers and use them for printing without their ever knowing anything about it.

I love Epson printers. I got 10 years' service from 2 printers. I only had to buy new printers when operating system upgrades could not use the drivers or I couldn't get ink.

I tried to get a new printer that doesn't have color cartridges. The Epson printer I came up with still has them, it's still tells me I'm running out of ink when I've never printed any color documents, but it doesn't bother me.


TOPICS: Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: consumerism; epson; microsoft; toys; windows
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1 posted on 03/07/2020 6:40:51 AM PST by CharlesOConnell
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To: CharlesOConnell

Grab your Epson firmly by each side, walk to the nearest open window and heave it as far as you can. Your welcome.


2 posted on 03/07/2020 6:44:41 AM PST by JonPreston
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To: CharlesOConnell

HP Printers are the worst concerning destroying router security. Unless I need to use a printer it is ALWAYS powered off.


3 posted on 03/07/2020 6:44:49 AM PST by devane617 (Kyrie Eleison, where I'm going, will you follow?)
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To: CharlesOConnell
>> I tried to get a new printer that doesn't have color cartridges <<

You should check out Brother series of Monochrome Laser Printers. Very inexpensive and very reliable. I have a HL-L2300D and have no complaints.
4 posted on 03/07/2020 6:53:15 AM PST by Kid Shelleen (Beat your plowshares into swords. Let the weak say I am strong)
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To: Kid Shelleen

“You should check out Brother series of Monochrome Laser Printers. Very inexpensive and very reliable. I have a HL-L2300D and have no complaints.”

I stand by Brother printers.

Here in the house we have three operating 24/7 and a fourth that we take with us to conferences.

High quality and reliable.


5 posted on 03/07/2020 6:59:09 AM PST by BBB333 (The Power Of Trump Compels You!)
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To: CharlesOConnell

Monochrome (black & white) lasers are pretty cheap and you don’t have the mess of liquid ink and dried up nozzles.

Color lasers are also pretty cheap.

I gave up on inkjets nearly 2 decades ago. My first monochrome laser cost $200 and my first color laser cost $150. I still use the color laser, even though it is about 12 years old. I print very little; thus, the cartridges last a long time. I finally had to replace the ‘black’ cartridge about a year ago.


6 posted on 03/07/2020 7:02:10 AM PST by TomGuy
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To: CharlesOConnell

Why would your printer need your router’s id?


7 posted on 03/07/2020 7:02:15 AM PST by TexasGunLover
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To: CharlesOConnell

Used to like Epson ‘till I needed Win8 drivers for my flatbed scanner. Couldn’t find them on line so I contacted Epson and they said they were not providing win8 drivers for that scanner. Said they’d provide me a discount on a new device.....no more Epson for me thanks.


8 posted on 03/07/2020 7:07:56 AM PST by V_TWIN
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To: CharlesOConnell

Is it a WiFi printer or hooked via cable to the PC?

I found it cheaper and more convenient to go with laser printers once I decided I had no reason to have to print color - by the time I go through my second toner, the printer is ready to be replaced and they are so cheap these days that if one goes through a high-capacity toner, it is cheaper to buy a new laser printer than it would be to buy all the ink for the ink-jet types.


9 posted on 03/07/2020 7:11:11 AM PST by trebb (Don't howl about illegal leeches, or Trump in general, while not donating to FR - it's hypocritical.)
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To: BBB333

I’ve used Brother printers for a long time - reliable and cheap - especially when compared to buying ink if one doesn’t need color.


10 posted on 03/07/2020 7:12:19 AM PST by trebb (Don't howl about illegal leeches, or Trump in general, while not donating to FR - it's hypocritical.)
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To: CharlesOConnell

Yes, printers can be intrusive and that sucks.

But your problem is with your router.

The password for my router is l-o-n-g with a crazy mix of letters, upper and lower, symbols, numbers, etc., and there is no app available that can break it within the hacker’s life time.

https://www.csoonline.com/article/3228106/want-stronger-passwords-understand-these-4-common-password-security-myths.html


11 posted on 03/07/2020 7:13:00 AM PST by old curmudgeon (There is no situation so terrible, so disgraceful, that the federal government can not make worse)
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To: TexasGunLover

Maybe it thinks the router is under 18?


12 posted on 03/07/2020 7:13:41 AM PST by Larry Lucido
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To: Kid Shelleen

Brother lasers have been humble workhorses for me for decades.


13 posted on 03/07/2020 7:14:41 AM PST by 9YearLurker
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To: CharlesOConnell

Plug in a Raspberry Pi or a Beaglebone Black into your computer and they will phone home even over a USB connection.


14 posted on 03/07/2020 7:26:45 AM PST by GingisK
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To: BBB333

“Brother series of Monochrome Laser Printers”

I have one, got it 2 years ago at Wally World for $94


15 posted on 03/07/2020 7:30:29 AM PST by George from New England (escaped CT in 2006, now living north of Tampa)
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To: Kid Shelleen

I will second that motion. I’ve got a 10 or 12 year old brother monochrome laser printer that I think cost me $50 maybe $70. I have beat the utter crap out of it. It has been through two construction projects that undoubtedly raised a lot of dust.... I took nominal steps to cover it, but I’ve done nothing whatsoever to that printer except feed it
cartridges, which are $20 on eBay. I do not have a great need to print in color, but if I did I would have one of these mono Laser Printers just for the purpose of saving wear and tear on a on a color printer. The thing is completely indestructible.


16 posted on 03/07/2020 7:38:44 AM PST by Attention Surplus Disorder (Apoplectic is where we want them)
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To: Kid Shelleen

Okidata LED (laser) printers are also work horses and use a powdered toner cartridge.


17 posted on 03/07/2020 7:43:01 AM PST by ptsal ( Bust the NVIA)
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To: ptsal

I retired 12 years ago, and still miss the Okidata laser printer we had in the office. It was wonderful. (I don’t miss it enough to end retirement, though. LOL!)


18 posted on 03/07/2020 7:45:59 AM PST by MayflowerMadam ("Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow; it empties today of its strength" - Corrie ten Boom)
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To: CharlesOConnell

I’ve been running a cheap HP laser printer for nearly 20 years with no problems. Worked in quite a few offices and never saw a real router with a firewall cracked by a printer. That’s pretty funny. ;D


19 posted on 03/07/2020 8:02:48 AM PST by familyop ("Welcome to Costco. I love you." - -Costco greeter in the movie, "Idiocracy")
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To: CharlesOConnell

Maybe the headline should have been Ink Printer on Crack. ;)


20 posted on 03/07/2020 8:03:38 AM PST by familyop ("Welcome to Costco. I love you." - -Costco greeter in the movie, "Idiocracy")
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