Mobile devices, including for example laptop computers and mobile phones (so-called “smart” phones), provide remote access to more than computer files and email. For example, users may access security systems, lighting control systems, television recording devices, and even peripheral devices (e.g., printers) for home or office computers, from just about anywhere a network connection is available, including the Internet and mobile communications networks. By way of illustration, a user at a coffee shop can print a coupon on a mobile website being viewed on their smart phone to a printer at their home or office computer. The user can then pick up the printed coupon the next time they are at home. In another illustration, a user at the airport can print a presentation from their laptop computer at the office printer, and then call a coworker at the office to retrieve the printed presentation from the printer. Of course, there are many other uses in addition to these illustrations.
Printers and other devices may be enabled for remote access by assigning a network address to the printer, such as a uniform resource locator (URL) or email address. The user can then access the printer from any network using this identification in much the same way that the user would access the printer on the local network using the printer's local area network (LAN) ID.
Unfortunately, even long and randomly assigned device IDs can be determined by unauthorized users (so-called “hackers”). The hackers can then send unauthorized communications (so-called “spam”) to the printer. Not only is this unauthorized communication a nuisance for the user, it also wastes paper, ink, and other resources (e.g., electricity), and causes unnecessary wear and tear on the device.