Security gap seen in fax machines

The fax machine is widely considered to be a dinosaur of interoffice communications, but it lives on as part of allin-one printers and may present a vulnerable point where hackers can infiltrate an organization’s network, according to a new report from Israeli software company Check Point. The company said the vulnerability was identified as a result of research intended to discover potential security risks, not as the result of any attack.

Hackers can gain access to a network using the phone line connected to a fax machine, which is often connected to the rest of an organization’s network. By sending an image file that contains malicious software over the phone line, hackers are able to take control of the device and access the rest of the network. The researchers were able to do this using only a fax number.

The legal and medical fields rely heavily on fax machines to conduct business because compared with email, fax is widely considered to be a more secure form of transmitting sensitive information and signatures. The banking and real estate sectors also frequently transfer documents containing signatures via fax.

With the advent of all-in-one products that include fax functions as well as printing and scanning, fax machines may be more prevalent in homes and offices than people realize. This particular vulnerability applies only if such a machine is connected to a telephone line, however.

The only machines tested were from HP’s line of all-inone printers, but, according to the report, these vulnerabilities are likely to be found in machines from any manufacturer that uses similar technology. HP issued a patch for its products before the report was published.