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RSS feedsHaving reviewed a fax server recently and spoken to the manufacturer, I discovered that the humble fax is still very much alive and kicking.
I must admit this came as a bit of a shock, but the reasons became obvious when they were pointed out to me. They included the many failings of the ubiquitous email, including a lack of signature or identity, the inability to verify that it has been received and virus threats.
Yes, certified emails and automatic proofs of delivery can be achieved, and virus scanning offers some security. But not everyone implements these features, or is even able to do so.
However, attention is quickly becoming focused on these issues, but for different reasons, notably the explosion in junk mail.
It appears that those pharmaceuticals so widely advertised in unsolicited emails have stimulated Bill Gates into action with his recent declaration of war on the spammers.
This is something in which we should all rejoice. In addition, looking under the skin we find numerous technical, social and financial implications that mean we should take an interest.
Numerous ISPs have already waded in with ways of solving the problem, each in turn creating new problems.
Yahoo is looking at certifying emails using a scheme called Domainkeys, AOL is considering Sender Policy Framework and Microsoft is planning to implement a form of electronic Caller ID.
These solutions are all trying to achieve the same basic result: determining the authenticity of the email with minimal disruption to the end user.
There are lots of unknowns in all the proposals, and it's far too early to say which system will prevail. But the concept seems to have struck a chord with the Internet Engineering Task Force, which had a session on the authentication subject at its last meeting in Korea.
What is clear, however, is that it will require strict worldwide enforcement for whichever proposal is implemented to work.
Of course the main reason people use email for mass mailings is the minimal cost involved. So why do Microsoft and Yahoo offer free web email? Will the introduction of authentication measures signal the end of such services?
That is unlikely, but ultimately this may prove to be the biggest shake-up of email since its invention. Even so, it's still only tinkering at the edges.
The number of spam emails may fall, and the spread of viruses slow temporarily, but this still won't solve some of the fundamental problems that aren't shared by faxes.
Maybe we should be looking at authenticating at an individual level. This would keep companies such as VeriSign happy, although there are alternative open source initiatives such as Oath.
However, taken to its logical conclusion, every email sent would have to be digitally verifiable and unique to an individual.
But how far do we go? Using biometrics to send out emails? This is perhaps not such a far fetched idea, with the US practically insisting that every foreigner uses a biometric passport.
The UK is planning face recognition biometrics for passports in 2005, but this is a government IT project so expect some time lag.
With such a system in place, the ideological leap from immigration security to electronic email identification seems to be insignificant.
But of course, with human nature being as it is, someone will always find a way to circumnavigate any system. It looks like I'll be reviewing fax servers for some time yet.
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