Are Public Fax Machines Safe?

Jim Brennan

Jim Brennan

VHS Member Old Skool
A buddy of mine asked if he could drive down to my place (about an hour away) to fax something. I asked him why not go to Kinko's and he said that he was afraid that his personal info might be accessed somehow, and that all those machines keep copies of everything they fax.

That sounds a bit paranoid to me, and somewhat of a logistical and memory nightmare.

Anyone care to chime in?
 
I don't know about fax machines, but I use a copier which basically scans the images into memory. This allows you to print more copies, even without an original. Clearly this kind of setup could have some downsides as well.
 
I used to work at a place where the fax kept copies of the last 3 or so incoming faxes in memory, but it didnt keep outbound faxes. I suppose their's could but that would be odd...

Theoretically though any public fax could be tapped, but thats a bit paranoid IMO. So could the credit card machine they are verifying with...

I have yet to hear a story of someone suffering identity theft in such a manner though... Much easier to just break into a credit card or government database if one was so inclined. I imagine that I've had my identity stolen very often, but they always throw it back - who would want to be me?
 
Well its no more unsafe then using the internet connection via dialup, a fax is simply a Scanner + Modem, Fax transmission is specified by ITU group T(3 and4) protocal which are digital, groups (1&2 are anologue ie. depreciated),

Images are sent in TIFF format using the ITU T.4 compression (Hoffman I think),

therefore in theory a MITM (Man in the Middle Attack) setup could intercept these data transmission and easly "view" the fax.

If your paranoid friend wants piece of mind, I would suggest he encrypts his message inside an image and then fax it, of course the reciever needs to have the software/passwords to decrypt it

many such software exists online eg (a two second google reveals):

http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Utilities/File_Encryption_Utilities/Encrypt_Text_in_Picture.html


Anhar
 
Ofcourse an unscrupulous person could keep copies of faxes, maybe even as a nosey hobby....motivations aside.

If the material he is sending is that sensitive maybe he should consider another more secure method of transfer.
 
Public fax machines are NOT safe. They are prone to shiv sticking, bottom smacking and general nastiness that may lead to the heartbreak of psoriasis. If you see a public fax machine, do not approach it. Seek professional assistance and/or a shillelagh.
 
rjo0019l.jpg
 
Johnny Mnemonic taught us that your friend is, in fact, correct. Our hero in that particular cinematic classic was able to access information stored in a copy house's fax buffer quite easily, though he had to get out of the system before a virus was uploaded (I think straight into his neural implant). So clearly it can happen.

But it can happen on any system as well.

Sidenote: A nearby very, very small town has city council meetings sometimes with some interesting characters. One of them complained about the city not sending him the forms he needed. It ended up he had refused to give them his proper mailing address. They asked if they could email it, and he was furious at how backwards the city council was; email is ridiculously outdated, and faxing is going to be the wave of the future. They need to keep up with the times.
 
hehe, Johnny Mnemonic.

I got to thinking how easy it would be. Sending the fax to an alternate phone # I suppose, in the office next over, then re-sending it afterwards. But the alternate # would show up on a receipt. Maybe tapping the phone line and running another in-house fax machine, possibly adapted, if needed. Okay, that's it, I'm done here. Moving right along...
 
When I worked in Russia in the mid-nineties our faxes were routinely intercepted by scammers. I'm sure the problem is worse now (or maybe they've all moved-on to intercepting email.)
 
Go to a UPS store to get your stuff faxed, less traffic, and people who ship things don't have time to look at your bleeping fax! Actually, tell your friend the fax/phones don't cost much, he should buy one, we bought one for our son years ago.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top