Printer Bomb: An HP, Multi-function Device

A rather dry report from Reuters talks about the toner bomb without getting into too many details. 

By looking at the video, we in the business can tell a great deal. The toner cartridge was installed. The cell phone and other electronics as well as wiring, are contained within the HP LaserPrinter.

The powerful and hard-to-detect type of explosive known as PETN, the same substance used by AQAP in a failed plot to blow up a U.S.-bound passenger plane last Christmas Day, looks to be packed into the toner cartridge. (White substance) 

So basically, the explosive material was packed into the toner cartridge and wired into the timer, power source, and other detention electronics, bolted on somewhere in the printer. 

From the outside, the unit looks as tame as ever. As to how these bombs were detected, officials said the plot was discovered thanks to intelligence passed from Saudi Arabia. Without that tip, it's unclear whether anyone would have discovered the bombs before they were airborne — or on U.S. soil. Great, no high-tech solution here, just more heavy TSA petting before boarding. 

There is absolutely no doubt that HP had nothing to do with this, and is indeed a big victim here. 

DOTC, August 18, 2009, SEC Asked HP About Middle Eastern Dealings - Back in February 

DOTC, January 9, 2009, HP To Stop Selling in Iran - Power of The Press 

DOTC, December 29, 2008,  HP Printers Sold in Iran - The Unholly Alliance - 

Printer Bomb Plot from Matthew Cole on Vimeo.

Happy Halloween Edgar Allan Poe: The Raven (Narrated by Christopher Walken)

MPS, Terrorism and THIRD PARTY TONER: If by Third Party, You Mean "Manipulated"

10/2010

Somebody get Mulder and Scully out of retirement.

CNN:

"At least two U.S. airports were on high alert Friday after investigators found a suspicious package on a plane in the United Kingdom the night before, a law enforcement source with detailed knowledge of the investigation said."

The suspicious package, which contained a "manipulated" toner cartridge, tested negative for explosive material, the source said, but it led to a heightened inspection of arriving cargo flights in Newark, New Jersey, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a UPS truck in New York.

Wow.

For over a year, I have been kicking around the idea of a novel - in this figment, I envision third-world Evil Doers tainting toner cartridges with a heat-activated, slow-burn, killer virus.

This contaminant, after melting on the surface, infects at the touch - talk about "the hidden cost of printing".

"White Toner"

Well, today, Stage 1 MPS has been dragged into the international spotlight.

Sorta.


News agencies are reporting a "manipulated toner cartridge" found on a UPS plane, contributed to elevating the threat level to "High" in the airline sector.

Reports are now saying no bomb was found in the US. (Of course not, but did they test for the infamous "White Toner Bug"???)

Reports say that indeed two explosive devices were found, one on a plane in London - disguised as a "toner cartridge". Here.


Police investigate iffy packages at N.J., Philly airports

Canon MDS Cuts Costs in Half

"Wait...that's not what I thought you meant by cutting..."

HP service takes toner direct to enterprise - Singapore, Melbourne and Perth

"The delivery and the implementation is done directly by HP, but we do take into account situations where there are value-added services from the reseller."

According to an article in CRN, here, HP is ratcheting up the "Enterprise" MES with managed supplies services (MSS).

First Canon, then Clip, then Toshiba, now this...

It's upside-down world.

--More--

HP To Offer Toshiba's to Enterprise Accounts - In Asia

More "strange bedfellows" news:

HP has formed an alliance with Toshiba as part of its managed print services (MPS) strategy.

At the HP Innovation Summit at Singapore, the vendor revealed that key high-volume MPS enterprise customers will have access to a select range of Toshiba multifunction devices.

HP already has a similar agreement with Canon announced last year.

Managed Print Services: The Summer of 2010 Rising Stars - Constellation One

When I was a kid back in high school, I remember being told that humans were the only species on the planet that could crane their necks and face the sky.

I have since learned this is more a romantic notion than factual as birds are thought to navigate via the stars

To me, the real difference is our ability to assign patterns to the star filled sky and create stories around those pictographs - a uniquely human quality.

In this spirit, I present to you dear reader, my Summer of 2010 Constellation of MPS Rising Stars.

These few are in my opinion, walking the walk and talking the talk when it comes to MPS.

Does this mean that everybody else sucks? No, not at all.

What it does mean is that we who play in the MPS sandbox, can look to this pattern in the sky, and study. Learn. Adapt. Improve.

Alas, it is a shame that I need to even mention this, but, as with everything else I have ever posted, this is MY opinion only.

NOT the MPSA.

And this is not a scientific study.

Also, I don't take money from any of these stars, so it's not like the "quadrant".

I am not part of a multi-national, media conglomerate, so these stand-outs don't pay to be in any of my trade shows or "published" in any poser magazines.

I am not carpetbagging "How to Sell MPS" classes.

You are free to disagree but please remember, I write for an audience of one: me.

Submitted for your review, off the Shoulder of Orion, the DOTC Summer of 2010, Rising MPS Stars:

Waking Up in Vegas

So.

Yeah...um...I will be "off line" but not in the middle of nowhere.

Let's call it a trip in search of inspiration, the meaning of MPS, and the physics of pole dancing.

Hell, it's only 3 hours away by Rover.

Enjoy.

Managed Print Services: Kyocera enhances, Sharp getting in, Brother waiting for MPS to go Mainstream(?)

That's right.

More straw MPS training, a late to the game player and an organization waiting for MPS Industry to "open up".

Press releases and reflection follow:

FAIRFIELD, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Expanding its industry-leading Managed Print Services (MPS) training offering, Kyocera Mita America, Inc., one of the world's leading document solutions companies, today announced that the Company has authorized the Business Technology Association’s (BTA) “MPS Sales Workshop” and “MPS Operations & Service Workshop” for meeting training requirements of the Kyocera Certified MPS Dealer Program.

These two programs are taught by Tom Callinan, Ed Carroll, David Ramos and Mike Woodard of Strategy Development, a management consulting and advanced sales training firm.

The BTA MPS training program and Print Management Solutions Group (PMSG) are the only organizations with authorized educational offerings within the Kyocera Certified MPS Dealer Program.

“Kyocera is committed to enabling and supporting its certified dealers in their development of the MPS business model, and we’re identifying resources which bring the best MPS training programs for sales, services and operations to our dealers,” said Peter Hendrick, vice president of marketing, Kyocera Mita America.

“We believe MPS is the future of our business and we understand that education is the key to a successful MPS strategy. We’ve partnered with BTA and PMSG, two of the industry’s leading Dealer and Training organizations, to deliver the training that certifies Kyocera dealers into our national MPS network.”

The following BTA MPS training programs are authorized for certification to Kyocera’s MPS Dealer Program:

BTA MPS Operations & Service Workshop

The MPS Operations & Service Workshop is designed to jump start the dealers’ understanding of how to set up and manage all service related aspects of an MPS agreement.

BTA MPS Sales Workshop

Designed to provide dealerships with the tools they need to establish a managed print services strategy, the MPS Sales Workshop will educate dealers how to increase the quantity of captured prints, lock in customers, distinguish themselves from competitors, sell more document imaging devices and, ultimately, become the end-user's "single source" for managing printed pages and hardware.

Press Release, here.
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DOTC, I'm calling BULLSHIT.