Canon reminds printer users to manually delete Wi-Fi settings before discarding

CTOnews.com, August 2 (Xinhua)-- Canon issued a notice on Monday reminding printer users to manually delete Wi-Fi wireless network settings stored in the printer before selling, discarding or repairing the printer to prevent such sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands.

The wireless network connection settings in the printer may not be deleted by the regular initialization process, the notice said. These settings include the name, password, type, local network IP address, MAC address, and network configuration of the wireless network. If this information is exposed, bad people may use them to illegally access the network to which the printer is connected.

Canon recommends that printer users manually clear their wireless network settings by following these steps before handing over the printer to any third party:

For printers with a special reset function, the user should:

Reset all settings (reset settings-> reset all)

Enable wireless local area network

Reset all settings again

For printers that do not have a special reset feature, the user should:

Reset LAN settings

Enable wireless local area network

Reset LAN settings again

Canon said that nearly 200 printer models were affected, and a detailed list of CTOnews.com partners can be seen here.