Unlike common opinion, faxing is still a thing in businesses, healthcare institutions, and even daily lives. Almost replaced by smartphones and emails, the industry is still growing. The new word in the faxing documents world is, indeed, efaxing or virtual faxing. Imagine that: your client receives a fax, prints and reads it as always – they have no idea you’ve sent it without any hardware. How to send a secure fax? All you need is to use an online fax service.
As with any new industry, online faxing is suspected to be unreliable and too vulnerable for confidential information. The things, however, are the opposite. With the best encryption measure, online faxes remain secure and even become safer than hardware options. See how it works to make your own conclusion.
Traditional Faxing: Is Fax Secure?
In essence, the term “traditional” in 2024 is used for fax machines. This physical hardware is used in offices, hospitals, etc. Using the hardware, an employee sends a piece of information. All you need is your digital fax number and your recipient number. Although it seems completely practical, traditional faxes have a number of drawbacks:
- They take up too much physical space;
- They are not encrypted at all – fax machines secure measures are not actual anymore;
- They can be easily used by anybody if you don’t use special protective measures;
- Their usage years later is caused by the lack of options – in fact, a traditional fax machine doesn’t match industries’ safety standards.
Finally, they lack a number of efax security options, including clouds, passwords, encryption, and privacy measures. Let’s see how virtual faxes match all those conditions and even more.
Efax Safe Use: How Online Faxing Works?
Forrester’s research showed that 31% of businesses that use faxes have already switched to faxing secure online. These were 2022 figures – only in 2023, their number was forecasted to reach 51%. Are they right, however? Before deciding, see how it works. Using online faxes, one should register with a third-party service. There, several steps are required:
- The registration includes some private information like email.
- After registering, the fax user chooses between toll-free & local fax numbers as if it were a real fax machine.
- Using the fax number of other program users or traditional fax owners, the user sends online faxes. Basically, the fax documents is uploaded to a third-party service, and sent from there.
The matter of concern about “are fax apps secure” is obvious. External services gain access to all the papers, sent via their servers. This makes many users believe such tools won’t suit confidential letters and papers. But things, once again, are the opposite. Accessing your files, the service is able to protect them. The unique encryption allows services not only to send papers but also to secure and encrypt them. For instance, EveryFax offers clear terms for data use and storage. It means that you see how the tool uses your data and can even decline it.
Faxing Safe: Leading Security Measures in the Ifax Sphere
Still, the choice of the efax tool is crucial. Before sending a fax with personal information, make sure the best protective measures are used. Also, privacy and confidentiality are a must in terms how secure is fax service.
The Newest Fax Encryption
Is efax secure? The answer hugely depends on encryption types. Most fax services use AES – advanced encryption standard, RSS, or ESA. Practically, the encryption systems turn your data into a code, accessible only for senders, recipients, and the fax service. Faxes, encrypted this way, cannot be hacked.
AI Protection Technologies
According to the Darktrace industry survey, companies believe in AI efficiency in terms of online security. 96% of respondents believe that AI systems can help in preventing and detecting security risks. Fax, encrypted and protected by AI, is also completely safe.
Online fax services secure measures are not an exception. Companies already implement AI to automate tasks, filter spam, and complete other repetitive jobs. In the future, AI can also protect your data. For instance, artificial intelligence can prevent fraud and detect suspicious activities way better than a human.
Making eFax Safe with Could Storage
Hardware stores information offline, using your computer’s space – not the best storage for confidential fax information. Online fax, meanwhile, utilizes cloud storage and data rooms. Those online rooms provide security and encryption as well. Only you, the fax service, and the recipient can see all the files. Despite a stereotype, online storing is much more safe and efficient.
Physical Protection for efax Secure Sharing
In case the fax company uses physical storage and cloud computers, all the hardware is protected. It includes alarm systems and video surveillance. After all, all the computers and servers are located in one place, making fax app secure – not all over the world, like physical fax machines do.
Safe Paper Signing
With the help of online tools, you can also use electronic signatures to sign papers via your fax. Such signatures are considered way safer than traditional ones. Protected with passwords, they are unique and private.
Privacy Policy
All this helps to prevent external risks and make faxing secure. But what about the service itself? A good virtual fax provides clear privacy policies and terms and conditions. It includes the following info:
- How the company gathers your data: via cookies, fill-in-forms, uploaded files, etc;
- What data is saved: whether the company can see your documents or it’s only about the sender’s personal data;
- How long the information is stored;
- Who can see the data: in most cases, affiliates or companies from the same business group will be able to see your fax personal information.
Such things as is efax secure are especially important for financial, legal, and healthcare industries. Although the data is usually used for marketing purposes only, you still have a right to protect the most confidential parts. Always review the company’s privacy policies.
Do Online Faxing Suit Your Industry: Best Practices to Efax Secure Papers
Apart from cyber security, many industries have special privacy standards – that’s also about the matter of is fax secure. That’s why internet faxes work in accordance with international standards. You’ll wonder how many spheres and private personas still utilize this method.
Healthcare
The use of HIPAA standards in faxing is essential for healthcare experts, sending an online secure fax. According to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, healthcare specialists must follow confidential data transfer methods. It means that only you and your patient can see the prescription, diagnosis, laboratory testing results, and other patient’s information.
Everyfax works in compliance with the HIPAA standards. That’s why hospitals and other healthcare institutions can officially use HIPAA-compliant fax services.
IT and Digital Faxing
However, each specialist and a private person requires fax security and privacy. Back in 2020, Spiceworks company conducted a survey among 500 IT employees. Surprisingly, 85% of them use virtual faxes regularly. Caused primarily by COVID-19, this trend is still rising. IT spheres can safely share briefs, reports, and company information.
Legal Sphere and Administration
The US Social Security Administration claims to be using online faxes. This way, employees accept new requests and send files to colleagues, clients, and partners. A good example of modernization even in the government sphere, right? Also, it shows how well-protected online faxes are nowadays.
So, asking the primary question – yes, faxing personal information safe is possible. The thing is what tools you subscribe to. Make sure the virtual fax service uses encryption, making your faxes protected, and don’t access confidential data itself. In fact, good efaxes are even more secure than hardware. Nothing to say about their practicality.
FAQ
Is It Safe to Fax From iPhone or Any Smartphone?
Whether a client utilizes PCs or smartphones to send faxes, it doesn’t matter. Virtual faxes are software, not hardware. That is why their security measures work equally via each device, even if you send a fax from iPhone.
Are email faxes safe?
Using efaxing, one can also send faxes using emails instead of traditional fax addresses. Sending efax to email is completely safe since the virtual service protects transfers via email as well.
Can I use virtual faxes in the medical sphere?
The HIPAA standard makes healthcare specialist doubt about visual faxes. However, the information remains confidential. You can freely fax documents as an attachment and other documents to your patients and colleagues.
Is Online Fax More Secure Than Email?
Yes, since online faxes comply with HIPAA regulations and other industries’ standards. It means better encryption and stricter privacy policies.
Is it safe to fax security number or personal information?
The answer depends on the chosen service. See if your online tool protects your data and won’t share it with third parties.
Is fax secure way to send documents?
Traditional faxing doesn’t offer protection, needed in 2024. But talking about virtual fax tools, they offer the best protection – they are considered even more reliable than emails and cloud storage.
