How Secure is Online Faxing?

Perhaps, one of the most asked questions about Internet or online fax is this: how secure is online faxing? Is using your computer and your Internet connection a safe way to send and receive your sensitive faxes?

Actually, if you fully investigate the matter, online faxing is much more secure than regular faxing from the old traditional fax machine in the office

There are many reasons why this is so, but the main one has to do with encryption. You can encrypt your faxes so that only you and the receiver can view them. No one else will see your sensitive faxes.

Many Internet Fax Providers use SSL and PGP encryption. Most, if not all email service providers are compliant with such privacy regulations as Gramm-Leach-Bliley & HIPAA in the United States and PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) in Canada.

Compared to the old traditional fax machine in the office where many prying eyes can view your faxes, online faxing is much more secure. Furthermore, you can securely store your faxes in your online account, although it is probably a good business practice to delete any sensitive faxes once you have read them if you want to keep them totally secret.

Keep in mind, most computer systems (no matter how secure) may be cracked by any determined individuals who wish to do us harm. So like any sensitive files you have on your computer, it is probably wise to store your faxes securely by using an encryption program or by using other means to make them unavailable to the surfing public.

If security is of a great concern to you, always check out any Internet Fax Service Provider before you sign up to discover what encryption measures they take to protect your privacy. Make sure any fax service you obtain does meet any privacy issues that you may have. Since your chosen fax service will act as an intermediary on your behalf to handle all your faxing, do you due diligence and thoroughly check out any company before signing on the dotted line. Make sure there hasn't been any major privacy/security issues with past customers or users.

Again, since we are talking about using your computer and sending your faxes in emails as attachments, you must make sure both aspects or components are secure. Fortunately, computers are becoming much more secure and there are numerous programs you can use to encrypt your data. Likewise, email also has become more secure as web users have become cautious about using email for sending sensitive information and have taken steps to address this problem.

With a good high quality online fax service, the security of your faxes should not be a major concern. Just take some simple steps to ensure your faxes are quickly deleted and/or stored in encrypted form, both on your computer and in your online fax account. Always remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, just make sure your faxes are handled securely from the get-go and you shouldn't have any problems.

Author - Titus Hoskins: For more information on Internet Fax Services use this handy online Comparison Guide to learn more about: online faxing

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