HP’s enterprise printers get NFC-based smartphone authentication

Using mobile devices for one-off printing tasks on office printers may not be a big deal, but Hewlett-Packard is trying to mitigate any security risk through direct wireless printing features it is bringing to enterprise printers. HP is adding NFC and Wi-Fi Direct to its new color LaserJet printers so mobile devices can establish a wireless connection directly to a printer without being logged into an office network. 

Hewlett-Packard is announcing today it has enabled enhanced security for its laser printers using smartphone authentication. The security feature makes use of near-field communication, or NFC, a radio technology with a short range. If a user taps a printer with an NFC-enabled smartphone, then the devices will communicate and the printer will verify the identity of the users. The user can then go ahead and use the printer, either by printing from a PC or directly from a mobile device. The “touch-to-authenticate” feature works with NFC-enabled Android smartphones and tablets. The solution works with two new laser printers, the HP Color Laser Jet Enterprise MFP (multi-function printer) M651 series and the HP Color Laser Jet Enterprise M680 series.