Anyone familiar with multiple modes of communication knows that faxing is a lot more secure than email. Email accounts are open to cyberattacks, and as such simply cannot provide the level of security that faxing can. This is why a lot of organizations opt to send private documents over a fax line. It's a fantastic way of moving messages over great distances without having to worry about the cybersecurity troubles of regular email.
Due to the highly classified nature of many of the documents it circulates, the U.S. government relies on faxing to keep lines of communication open. This is such a tried-and-true method that recent news of Hillary Clinton's attempt to circumvent faxing in order to send a secure document has picked up a lot of traction.
Email can't be trusted with classified documents
According to the Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, this whole scenario started with Clinton's senior adviser, Jake Sullivan, and his inability to send a document via "secure fax." This message must have been at least somewhat private, as faxing is a very odd way to send a document that doesn't need a high level of security.
Once told that faxing wasn't working, Clinton instructed Sullivan to simply make it a "non-paper w/no identifying heading and send non-secure." This basically means that Clinton was telling her advisor to take off the letterhead and other identifiable information and simply send the message as an email.
"Email just isn't safe."
Although this is something of a non-issue – the message ended up never being sent – the point to focus on here is how angry many people got with Clinton at even considering email a viable mode of communication for a secure message. Email just isn't safe, and using it to send private information is simply asking for trouble.
No one is safe
What this story also highlights is that no one is above reproach for sending sensitive data in an email. Email accounts are notorious for being easy to hack. Simply ask Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. NBC News reported that Clapper had been hacked by the same person who also accessed CIA Director John Brennan's email account in late 2015.
Apparently, Clapper wasn't the only one to be affected by this most recent plot. Along with his own personal email account, Clapper's wife's email had also been hacked. This just goes to show that no one, including some of the most powerful people in America, is safe from a cyberattack.
FoIP can help
While email may not be a viable solution for sending sensitive messages, legacy faxing alone simply isn't convenient. Thankfully, there's a very easy way to combine the convenience of email with the security of faxing. Faxing over IP has long been touted as a fantastic way of moving documents around without having to worry about hackers gaining access. FoIP works wonders for multiple industries, and can help your organization keep up with strict compliance standards.
Enhance enterprise communication, collaboration and compliance efforts with a proven FoIP solution from FaxCore. Contact FaxCore today to learn more about their 'Partly-Cloudy' fax solutions.
