Bambu printers keep print job files on SD card. This is a challenge for print farms that deal with sensitive IP. It’s basically like running a software company that has its source code in unprotected computers.
Short of using the enterprise printers, are there ways to protect the SD card files from being copied? Manually delete file after each print is not a solution for print farms.
Not all do, only certain printers such as the the P1P/P1S and A1/A2. The X and H store the current print in internal memory.
The gcode file doesn’t really yield anything more than a set of calipers would on an actual part.
I’m not sure what you are trying to secure against, vagrants/corporate spies that happen to walk through your print farm?
I was under the impression that by default, print jobs did not get saved to the SD card, I thought it was an option I had to select to save the print job to the SD card. I don’t recall seeing any print jobs on my X1C’s SD card.
If you’re a curious type, in LAN mode, you can connect over FTPS [note: not SFTP] over tcp/990
username “bblp”
password is the accesscode from LAN mode
You can build an automation to go in and nuke dirs.
5 Years ago, I’d agree w/ the position that raw gcode is not worth securing, not able to be reversed into something easily transferable and reusable… but modern slicers send the .gcode.3mf file to the printer, which is a zip file that can have anything needed for the project in it… [EDIT: as of right now it does not contain the geometry within it, but does contain exports of all your slicer settings and metadata. Future viewers might want to reverify that]
But if the actual part wasn’t there or would be missed — or especially if the printer was being attacked over a network — the gcode to make another would be just as good.
There are lots of reasons clients might want security assurances too. 3d print files can give away entire product lines if compromised in a competitive market.
It’s the same issue as some of those who need LAN mode instead of letting prints flow through Bambu servers.
But it’s not. One you’re sending the file back and forth to a 3rd party over the internet while the other is solely stored on an SD card and only accessible at the physical location of the printer.
If you can’t guarantee only secure access to the printer, you can’t guarantee any of the process start to finish from receiving the file to delivering the part.
Can you point me to a workflow to get the model file in .gcode.3mf back to the original model?
The .gcode file is the only one that has any substance.
I cracked a .gcode.3mf open just now:: Turns out you’re right, the “3dmodel.model” file isnt actually some binary/compressed thing, its just an xml document lol. So straggler 3mf will leak the gcode, and all your print params, but not the geometry directly.
You are still correct about the security risk as there are gcode to STL converters so you could generate a reasonably close facsimile of the original model. I will admit that I did over play the “caliper” comment. You even can open the gcode.3mf file in Bambu Studio and spin the preview model around.
That’s the obvious difference but a data card in a network-connected printer is probably at risk from remote attack. That was my point. Some people need to protect their files for any number of reasons and there can be legal impacts if data gets loose.
Anyone with files they need to protect needs to consider both local and remote attacks. Data on an SD card is at risk if the printer can be hacked and almost all network-connected devices seem vulnerable to some degree.
I don’t know how hard it is to hack a Bambu printer remotely and access the SD card contents, but I’d bet it’s possible. And if there is any possibility, people who are responsible for data security have to consider it and mitigate it where possible.
Not all 3d models are benign. Even models of cartoon characters could represent significant IP.
That’s good to know. I’m currently deciding large printer options between A2L and H2S.
Bambu printers are very accessible, bad actors can easily start printing on their own machines. This is why many Makerworld popular designs are being sold all over the internet illegally, because it’s easy.
Temporary workers.