Online fax is also known as internet fax or e-fax. Rather than the standard telephone connection and a fax machine. Online fax basically uses the internet to send and receive faxes.
Online faxes typically contain confidential information, but unfortunately, like most other forms of communication, they’re not always 100% secure from the many cyber threats out there.
To ensure the security of online faxes, you have to employ a continuous process of sending and receiving faxes in the safest possible way. If you want to improve the security of your fax documents, your eFax online fax service provider should come with the following security features related to privacy.
Here are some of the ways to secure your documents transferred through online fax:
1. Privacy Enhancing Technologies
As a rule of thumb, it’s never encouraged to transmit personal data by fax. But with the inception of online fax, personal documents can now be protected by some enhanced security.
With this, the fax recipient will not directly receive faxes in their mailbox, but for maximum security, their inbound faxes are encrypted and saved on a secure site. The documents can then be downloaded in a highly confidential manner.
2. Third-Party Online Storage
To protect your online fax, you could also use a secure online storage platform. Using third-party storage platforms has the advantage of enhanced security from cyber invasions.
Your personal email or computer may not always have professional cyber security to keep hackers away from your documents. Some online storage facilities also have the advantage of having easy access to your faxes.
3. Electronic Signatures
Using electronic signatures is one way you could reduce the risk of unauthorized access to your faxed documents. You can choose from various signing options offered by your online fax provider.
You can opt to sign faxes by swiping your finger on your mobile device or dragging a saved signature onto your fax document. This can all be done online in a matter of seconds.
4. SSL Encryption
If your online fax provider has a high-grade Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), your documents will be transmitted only after they’ve been encrypted. The encryption involves a secure tunnel that is protected by advanced encryption. This means your document is kept safe and secure during transmission from your device to your fax provider’s servers.
5. Secure Cloud Storage
Using your fax provider’s cloud storage means storing all your sensitive documents without worrying about invasion. The cloud storage facility must always be available for access anytime.
6. Secure Web Connection
Before sending any fax documents, you have to be sure that the service provider you’re using is legitimate and has a safe and secure connection. You can get this report by simply checking their security information.
If the provider offers a web interface, ensure that it’s a secure connection. All your credentials and personal information must be private when you send your fax to their servers.
7. Read The Privacy Policy
If you’re worried about the information collected by your fax service provider, you could ease your stress by reading their privacy policy. Knowing their privacy policy could help you fully grasp how they handle documents and other private information.
8. Create Written Policies
For the most part, the security of documents sent via fax depends on the crafting and implementation of adequate procedures and policies. Establishing written policies and procedures will strengthen your organization’s commitment to fax security, be it traditional or online faxing.
A written fax policy will also be a useful reference for you and your staff. The policy must contain some useful guidelines, including how fax documents to be received or sent must be handled, and how to store these documents.
9. Phone Ahead
Although it may seem old school, it’s advisable to call ahead when sending a fax. Never leave anything to chance when handling your fax documents.
Using this procedure could help ensure that the recipient is aware and ready to receive the fax. Should the document fail to arrive, the recipient can call you to inform you. You can then try to address the problem before it’s too late.
Conclusion
Using these suggestions could help you and your institution limit the number of unwanted access to sensitive information. Overall, when it comes to receiving online faxes, you can rest assured that your documents will be safe if you’re using a reputable fax provider.
Unlike the traditional fax machine, online fax will only grant fax access to authorized users. The chances of a data breach are very limited.
