Could digital fax be a secret weapon for cybersecurity in financial services?

Last year, a foreign exchange company in the UK, Travelex, cited cyberattack as a key factor in its decision to file for bankruptcy. It’s estimated…

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OpenText

April 19, 20214 minute read

Last year, a foreign exchange company in the UK, Travelex, cited cyberattack as a key factor in its decision to file for bankruptcy. It’s estimated that the financial services sector could see as much as $6 trillion in cybercrime damages in 2021. In fact, research from Boston Consulting Group shows that financial services firms are over 300 times more likely be targeted than companies in other industries. This blog looks at the role that digital fax can play in helping defend financial services companies from data breaches and information loss.

Financial services organizations depend on digital fax to support several business processes that require secure and trusted forms of communication. With guaranteed recipients, encryption, transaction transparency and irrefutable audit trails, digital fax is used by banks, trading houses, wealth managers and insurance companies to process credit applications, trade confirmations, claim forms and collection notices.

Research has shown 82% of UK banking customers say that ensuring their transactions are safe is the most important factor when choosing a bank. In addition to benefiting customer experience, the secure information exchange of digital fax improves revenue cycle time, reduces costs and boosts productivity.

Information security, front and center

Cyberattacks targeting the financial services sector have a particular focus on breaching the corporate network via web-based attacks and exploiting weaknesses in personal email systems. Digital fax delivers a solution that protects organizations against these vulnerabilities. The key security features you can expect from a leading digital fax solution include:

Data security

Digital fax uses the very latest information security capabilities, including strict access controls, multi-factor authentication and SSL/TLS encryption. Sensitive data is fully protected, both in transit and at rest.

Guaranteed recipients

One of the more powerful features of digital fax is its ability to route faxes to an intended recipient. In addition, fax security can be set so the recipient sees only the first page unless further authentication is provided. Full audit trails provide indisputable verification of delivery.

Centralized delivery

Digital fax solutions act as a centralized document delivery hub. Each step of the document delivery process is managed electronically, with routing and security rules that control how and where faxes are sent and received.

Enterprise integration

Leading digital fax solutions provide a wide range of integrations with other communications channels and enterprise applications such as ERP, CRM or content management. Information can be automatically exchanged digitally, in real time, directly between applications without manual intervention.

Tamper-resistant delivery

With a digital fax solution, documents are received directly in end users’ email inboxes, so they aren’t sitting out in the open. When a fax arrives to the inbox, the document is tamper-resistant—it cannot be edited without the event appearing in the audit trail.

Information backup

Whenever a document is sent via digital fax, a backup is created to preserve data in case of a disaster or other hardware or software problems. This data is held securely and restored automatically once the issue is resolved.

Security: The foundation for automation

The secure automation of processes and information flows has become an increasingly important element in the digital transformation initiatives of financial services companies worldwide. However, achieving these levels of automation remains a challenge. PwC found that many organizations were frustrated in their attempts to digitally innovate, due to legacy infrastructure, old work practices and lack of digital skills.

Digital fax reduces this challenge by transforming content-centric workflows while maintaining familiar fax or email work practices for users. In fact, it can automate workflows without the need to fundamentally redesign the content-centric process they support. By integrating with enterprise applications and automating paper-based, manual processes, digital fax can create end-to-end digital workflows that shorten business cycles and increase the speed of transactions.

It also guarantees the security of data as it passes between systems—both internally and with your trading partners. This helps you to achieve the smooth automation of content-centric processes, from mortgage applications to insurance claims to end-of-day settlements.

Read this blog to find out more about the role of fax in digital transformation for banks, insurance brokers and investment houses.

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OpenText

OpenText, The Information Company, enables organizations to gain insight through market-leading information management solutions, powered by OpenText Cloud Editions.

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