Data protection is something all businesses should be concerned with. Fax machines, though, are known for their problems when it comes to securing information. So what can be done? Is online fax secure? Can it be used instead?
Article overview:
Why You Need Better Online Security
In the wake of GDPR, it is now more important than ever to take your digital data protection practices seriously. Infractions lead to major fines and penalties that can destroy a business. This possibility means you need to take every possible step to protect your company.
How Online Fax Secures Your Brand
- It demonstrates to lawmakers you are investing in better practices to aid security
- It reduces the chance of your fax communications causing data breaches
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The Importance of Digital Security
It has never been so important for businesses to take care of their digital files. Data protection has been a topic of significant interest for years, resulting in countless legal cases and media stories — even collapsing businesses. However, the introduction of GDPR has meant it’s gone to a completely new level.
Found in violation of data protection laws, British Airways was fined over £180 million in July of 2019 by the ICO. While your business is unlikely to see bills that high following a breach, the penalty limits of 20 million Euro or up to 4% of annual turnover certainly aren’t to be scoffed at either.
The fact of the matter is, British Airways was penalised so heavily because the company was said to have “poor security arrangements”. The ICO doled out what is currently the second-largest data protection fine in history thanks to British Airways not taking its security seriously enough. By making an example of BA, the ICO demonstrates how the prevailing attitude towards safety places a significant role in punishments.
What this means is you need to think about the best ways to protect your data. If you don’t, and you get caught out, the consequences will be far worse than if you’d at least tried and were still the victim of a breach.
Why Online Fax Helps Your Business
Fax machines are security nightmares. They are vulnerable to hacking, they pose the unnecessary risk of unauthorised access and it’s all too easy to missend data. These problems are well known and well documented. So if you continue to use fax machines and your faxed data becomes the centre of a data breach, the governing authorities in charge of setting penalties aren’t going to look favourably on you, given you are using a platform that is notoriously bad for data protection.
Online fax can support the argument that you’re investing in better options to secure your data. The platform takes faxing, enables its continuation while introducing new and essential measures to better protect the information involved in transmission. But how is online fax going to appease data protection lawmakers, and how does it help reduce the chance of breaches in the first place?
Is Online Fax Secure? The Key Ways Online Fax Supports Business Security
- Access Control — Unauthorised access to fax is a major problem with traditional files. You can’t easily protect a paper file from viewers who shouldn’t see the file — unless you lock the document in a secure safe. Draws, desks, filing cabinets— they’re all too easily accessed by other individuals. That’s not even mentioning the trouble of receiving documents in the first place. When a machine receives a document, it has the potential to be viewed by anyone who has access to the machine. Online fax is different. It protects fax behind access control systems and logins. To see a fax, you need to have appropriate permissions. So your fax documents are no longer at risk of being viewed by those who shouldn’t see them.
- Data Encryption — Analogue fax transmissions cannot be encrypted. This makes them vulnerable to local interception as anyone who can access the phone line used to send them can steal the data without much trouble. Online fax is very different. eFax technology uses the internet to send faxes, meaning the data is encrypted with advanced TLS level protocols. This sort of security makes it much, much harder for would-be thieves to access data within fax documents.
- Digital Contacts — It may come as a surprise, but missent information over fax machines is one of the most common causes of data breaches. Misdialing remains a massive problem, both due to accidentally hitting the wrong digit and mixing up fax numbers. Online faxing, however, removes this problem. Contacts are saved to your account, with pre-approved and assigned fax numbers. This measure makes it incredibly difficult to accidentally send your fax to the wrong person or business.
- Paperless Documents — Paper documents are notorious security risks. They are prone to be misplaced, forgotten or stolen. This creates all sorts of problematic scenarios for your business. However, all this can be done away with. Online fax removes the need for paper documents, thus eliminating the dangers posed by the format.
How to Introduce Online Solutions to Secure Your Fax
Given the importance of faxing to business, and the importance of good data security, you’ll want to consider moving your fax solutions over to online services as soon as possible. So how do you achieve this? Integrating eFax into your business is easy. Simply sign up to eFax services through our website. You can easily port over your current fax number or choose a new one. Registration is quick and straightforward, and once complete, gives you immediate access to digital faxing. You can switch from fax machines to online fax right now, and start reaping the benefits of our upgraded security in a matter of minutes.