The thought of a printer putting you at a higher risk for hackers seems a little extreme, but in fact, there are several risks involved with printers that should make you think twice.

In fact, according to PCWorld's Eric Geier, wireless printers in particular are worth a pause for concern.

"Simpler printers, like the ones in many home offices, usually lack internal storage and features such as a Web interface, so they usually have fewer security vulnerabilities," writes Geier in a recent article for the technology news source. "But more-advanced business-class multifunction printers and copiers are subject to a greater number of threats, since they are basically computers with their own hard drive, operating system and direct network connection."

Of course, one of the obvious issues with printers is that if you have to print a confidential document (like a financial statement, for example) in an environment where the printer is not close by, you run the risk of someone else getting that document first.

To avoid this, try to limit the printing of personal documents to your home - and if your home printer is a larger wireless printer, make sure that the network is secure. Plus, if your home or office network is not secure, hackers are even able to "eavesdrop" and intercept the documents that you send to the printer.

Another way to be safe is to make sure to regularly erase data on the printer's internal storage. If you don't delete them, the printer may automatically save all print jobs, faxes, copies and scans, and then they could be accessed by co-workers, guests and even future owners of the printer.