My guess is that something (printer or related software) forward the ports automatically with UPnP, which many people don’t even realize is enabled on their router.
A lot of modern printers are hooked up to your router either via cable or WiFi rather than directly to your computer.
UPnP stands for Universal Plug and Play. It allows devices on a network to find each other easier. In some cases, UPnP can also do port forwarding to let external devices or services access your network easier. It’s not that uncommon in say video games where different video game clients need to talk to one another.
I’m honestly not sure why a printer would do that. Incompetent or malicious printer manufacturers perhaps. There is plenty of proof for the latter.
That’s safest for sure. Many printers can connect to the local network so that anyone on the same network can print to them. Some broadcast that service locally so that computers (with the correct software support) automatically detect them, though some don’t. Either way, the actual printing is done by sending data to a local port on the printer (targeted by IP address).
UPnP is a protocol that (in this context) lets devices on a local network request the router to forward Internet traffic on a certain port to a local device’s port. So rather than just local network devices being able to send print jobs, anyone on the internet could. It’s commonly used for web services or multiplayer video games.
My guess is that something (printer or related software) forward the ports automatically with UPnP, which many people don’t even realize is enabled on their router.
Could you elaborate more? My printer doesn’t use internet at all and I would just plugg that into my laptop whenever I want to print.
A lot of modern printers are hooked up to your router either via cable or WiFi rather than directly to your computer.
UPnP stands for Universal Plug and Play. It allows devices on a network to find each other easier. In some cases, UPnP can also do port forwarding to let external devices or services access your network easier. It’s not that uncommon in say video games where different video game clients need to talk to one another.
I’m honestly not sure why a printer would do that. Incompetent or malicious printer manufacturers perhaps. There is plenty of proof for the latter.
I’m not really a networking goddess but I think having ports open to VPN traffic is a good idea.
That’s safest for sure. Many printers can connect to the local network so that anyone on the same network can print to them. Some broadcast that service locally so that computers (with the correct software support) automatically detect them, though some don’t. Either way, the actual printing is done by sending data to a local port on the printer (targeted by IP address).
UPnP is a protocol that (in this context) lets devices on a local network request the router to forward Internet traffic on a certain port to a local device’s port. So rather than just local network devices being able to send print jobs, anyone on the internet could. It’s commonly used for web services or multiplayer video games.