IT guys network printer question.

[Jims5543]

Is there a way to identify who printed a document on a network printer?

If not is there any software available so that every document printed could have an ID on it telling what computer it came from?

[RickM]

I believe many print servers or printers save a logfile of which workstation sourced the printed output. It may be a feature that must be enabled.

What type of equipment do you have?

[Scott R]

Originally Posted by RickM

I believe many print servers or printers save a logfile of which workstation sourced the printed output. It may be a feature that must be enabled.

What type of equipment do you have?

Correct, if that level of logging is enabled. Also some printers keep a consumables log that maps back to an IP.

[rattlsnak]

Jim, i think you can relax. Nobody is going to find out it was YOU who printed the porn!!

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by rattlsnak

Jim, i think you can relax. Nobody is going to find out it was YOU who printed the porn!!

That is sort of what happened at my sons school. They all use laptops and it seems one of the kids printed something really hardcore on the printer.

All laptop use has been suspended until the person responsible come forward and almost 1 week later no one will fess up.

My son and some friends have a suspicion as to who did it but are not 100% sure so they do not feel its right to speak up. Hint, its not a boy believe it or not.

They have a network printer and maybe 3 documents were printed that morning so I cannot imagine this would be difficult to trace.

They cannot use laptops until the IT guy comes up with a solution, which I felt should have been come up with the next day, not 1 week and waiting.

This is a classic, the whole class is suffering because of 1 kid situation.

[HardDrive]

Again, what equipment are they using? If the printer is shared off a Windows 2000, XP, Vista computer, or any server product since NT 4.0, you can simply enable auditing.

If their IT guys don't know that, then their IT guys need to fired. Thats caveman *****.

If its a hardware print server, get us a product number.

[Jims5543]

Will do. I'll have it tomorrow.

[Jims5543]

According to the driver in my sons laptop it is a Toshiba e-Studio451 cSeries

[mikester]

How did the Porn GET onto the school network? If it was brought from home there is nothing that can really be done about that but if it was downloaded via the school's network there are laws that govern those. They are supposed to be censored - kids are not supposed to be able to get to porn, hate speech and basically anything that MIGHT not be considered "educational."

I used to work in the IT security department of the Los Angeles Unified School District, and if your kids can get to porn at school on their network - that school has an extremely serious problem.

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by mikester

How did the Porn GET onto the school network? If it was brought from home there is nothing that can really be done about that but if it was downloaded via the school's network there are laws that govern those. They are supposed to be censored - kids are not supposed to be able to get to porn, hate speech and basically anything that MIGHT not be considered "educational."

I used to work in the IT security department of the Los Angeles Unified School District, and if your kids can get to porn at school on their network - that school has an extremely serious problem.

It was not on the network it was on someones laptop. It was obviously brought from home. The principle felt it was probably sent to print by accident and then when it connected to the network, printed out. It happened first thing in the morning.


It is VERY serious and the student that did it will be kicked out. Its a private school. The shame is the person responsible has shut down the entire school (about 35 students) for a week now as they sort this out.

I felt the IT guy they were using is not doing his job because even I know this could be tracked down.

The mistake from the school was assuming it was a boy and only grabbing their laptops when there is a good chance its a girl.

[id10t]

Easy enough to set up a *nix box running samba (windows file/print sharing) and cups (unix print system) to do authentication (or just logging by MAC/ip/etc) and also accounting so you can give accounts credits for X number of pages, and bill for more... Also easy to set up authenticated 'net access, with degrees of control and allowance with transparent proyxing and creative use of dhcp.

Of course, network filtering (outbound access control) is easy to get around, with a simple ad-hoc network and a cell phone with a data plan...

And just for giggles, I'll mention there is paint on the market with metal particles in it, creates a faraday cage out of the room that gets painted with it, blocks most cell/wireless/etc ...

[svandamme]

if it was open wifi, no MAC authentication
and there is NO authentication
then all they can do is trace the log file for a MAC adress

and start checking everybody's laptop for that adress, and hope the perp didn't use a removable wifi card or usb stick... in which case the perp better toss that thing in the bin.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Jim Cesiro

Is there a way to identify who printed a document on a network printer?

If not is there any software available so that every document printed could have an ID on it telling what computer it came from?

It depends upon a lot of variables that have already been mentioned, but the bottom line is, the IT guy sounds clueless. If the print was sent through a print server then it "should" be trackable. However (and this is doubtful, considering the scenario), someone with "skills" could absolutely establish a direct connection to the device (printer) if the appropriate protocols are supported (and enabled), and there would be no traceable "audit trail". Again, not likely, but possible...

[jrdavid68]

Yep - beat up the IT guy, that's the ticket. Porn came in on a laptop from the kid's home? Maybe the parents should take a closer look at what the kids are doing AT HOME. Is the IT guy even getting paid or is he volunteering his free time to help out the school?

[svandamme]

only by beating up the IT guy will he progress to the next level, of BOFH
that's the roadmap to excellence

oppression, blackmail, dictatorshiplike rule over everything wired and wireless does not come by itself.

[KFC911]

[QUOTE=jrdavid68;3501538]Yep - beat up the IT guy, that's the ticket.../QUOTE]

Amputating an arm to "fix" a hangnail...he deserves it

[Jims5543]

Originally Posted by jrdavid68

Yep - beat up the IT guy, that's the ticket. Porn came in on a laptop from the kid's home? Maybe the parents should take a closer look at what the kids are doing AT HOME. Is the IT guy even getting paid or is he volunteering his free time to help out the school?

I have no idea if the IT guy is on the payroll or a volunteer. I am guessing the later because of the fact that this is still going on after a week. I am hoping to pass some info on to the school director about possible solutions.

BTW- My son was caught with some questionable websites on his laptop history. He is 14 years old, and I remember getting caught with a Playboy at that age and my younger brother with a box of Playboy and Penthouse.

Welcome to the 21st century now its websites.

He has since had the rule applied that he will only use his laptop at home on the kitchen counter where we can closely monitor him.

His teacher told me about the history, when questioned by me, he said he forgot to clear his history like all the other boys in his class do every night.

I was also told by his teacher that he is the most honest kid she ever met and knew if he said he did not do it, it was true. Besides that, he was not on his laptop that morning, instead he was helping the music teacher get some guitar amps from the attic when the printing occurred.