Fax remains embedded in healthcare, finance, law, and government. More than a fall-back option, it’s a fundamentally secure medium for sensitive information. But as the systems that surround fax have evolved, so too have security risks and practices.
A 2026 fax security checklist has to reflect that reality by covering identity management, auditability, vendor controls, and day-to-day operations.
This guide is for general informational purposes based on our implementation and advisory experience. It is not legal, regulatory, or compliance advice. Consult qualified professionals to identify and interpret the specific requirements that apply to your environment.
HIPAA establishes a baseline but is not a comprehensive security program. It prescribes encryption and access controls, for instance, but leaves their implementation up to interpretation and industry-wide best practices.
SOC 2 is an industry-agnostic framework that fills in many of these details. It emphasizes focus areas like availability, confidentiality, change control, monitoring, and third-party risk management. To be clear, SOC 2 certification is not necessary for healthcare orgs and does not directly translate to HIPAA compliance. But alignment with SOC 2 principles (if not certification) can help Covered Entities to show consistent operations and clear evidence during reviews.
However, SOC 2 Type II certification is a major criterion for fax vendor selection. We consider it one of the hallmarks of a mature, enterprise-grade fax vendor for the healthcare space.
Strong access control is the first and simplest way to reduce risk. In short, the goal is to limit fax access to only verified users with clearly defined permissions.
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is an industry-wide best practice. Single-factor credentials are alarmingly vulnerable, so MFA is a core feature—not an added precaution—in enterprise settings.
MFA should apply anywhere fax data is accessed, including admin consoles, user clients, and APIs—ideally linked through your org’s existing IdP to reduce fragmentation. Authenticator apps or push notifications are appropriate for most users, although higher-risk or higher-permission roles might justify hardware tokens or FIDO2.
Role-based access control complements MFA by limiting what users can do once they’re authenticated. There’s no single correct permission structure, but aim in general for least-privilege access that clearly maps to job duties and separates end users, administrators, and auditors.
Fax data is inherently secure in transit. In enterprise-grade tools, fax images and metadata are also secure at rest. Legacy components that cannot meet these standards should be isolated, retired, and replaced as soon as possible.
Retention policies also deserve attention, since there’s a fine line between covering just-in-case operational scenarios vs. increasing risk exposure through unnecessary data custody. Automated deletion and policy-based archival limit risk while supporting regulatory obligations. Archival should route into secure EHR, ECM, or document management systems with controlled access.
Fax records frequently appear in disputes involving care delivery, reimbursement, or contractual obligations. Organizations need to demonstrate what was sent, when it was sent, who received it, and how it was handled.
Immutable logs preserve that evidence. Strong audit trails show who sent the fax, when it was transmitted, who received it, and how it was handled. These logs then correlate with identity, telephony, and EHR data to paint a complete picture of PHI/PII handling.
Fax security is also shaped by integrations. Tying authentication to centralized identity providers simplifies onboarding and offboarding, enforces consistent MFA, and reduces orphaned accounts. Conditional access policies become easier to apply once fax platforms participate in the same identity layer.
Telephony components also require attention. SIP trunks and gateways should be secured, segmented, and monitored for unusual volume, routing changes, or signs of abuse.
Application integrations often expose the most data. Service accounts should be tightly scoped, API credentials rotated regularly, and data mappings reviewed for accuracy. Automated workflows should be checked for silent failures or duplicate storage that can erode data control.
Well-integrated environments are easier to monitor, govern, and defend.
Security controls are only effective if they are monitored and tested. Fax systems should feed events into centralized monitoring so failed logins, unusual access patterns, and permission changes are visible alongside other security signals.
Incident response plans should explicitly include fax. Misdirected transmissions, compromised accounts, and unauthorized archive access require defined triage steps and evidence preservation before logs rotate or purge.
Regular testing reinforces readiness. Scheduled reviews of MFA, access roles, retention settings, and log integrity help catch drift. Tabletop exercises for scenarios such as misrouted faxes or telephony outages can expose gaps before they become incidents.
Vendor & Framework Alignment
Identity & Access Control
Data Protection
Audit & Legal Readiness
Integration Security
Monitoring & Operations
Testing & Governance
For help aligning your fax environment with modern security expectations, or learning how other large fax users handle these challenges, Paperless Productivity® can help. We review RightFax and other enterprise fax deployments end to end, identify control gaps, and map a practical roadmap that fits your regulatory and operational realities.
Contact us to discuss your fax concerns with an outside expert, and find the right path to tighter, more manageable security in 2026.