FISMA and Faxing in Federal Information Systems
The Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) requires federal agencies and their contractors to secure federal information systems using NIST SP 800-53 controls and an Authority to Operate. Cloud services in scope typically need FedRAMP authorization. Send FAX Mail's encryption, MFA, and audit logging align with several 800-53 control families — but it does not carry a FedRAMP ATO.
FISMA Requirements for Fax
- Security categorization of the system under FIPS 199 (low, moderate, or high impact)
- Implementation of NIST SP 800-53 controls appropriate to that impact level
- An Authority to Operate (ATO) granted by an authorizing official
- Continuous monitoring of security controls
- FedRAMP authorization for cloud services processing federal information
- Incident response and reporting aligned to federal requirements
How Send FAX Mail Meets FISMA
- Encryption of faxes in transit and at rest, supporting the system-and-communications-protection family
- Multi-factor authentication (TOTP) and SSO for identification-and-authentication control objectives
- Per-user role-based access on the fax application for access-control objectives
- A per-fax audit trail (sender, recipient, timestamp, delivery status) for audit-and-accountability objectives
- Configurable retention and secure purge for media handling
- Honest scoping: Send FAX Mail does not hold a FedRAMP authorization or an agency ATO — a federal system owner must not assume authorization coverage from us
Industries Affected
Starter
- 600 fax pages per month
- 1 dedicated fax number
- Send & receive faxes
- Fax to email delivery
- Fax history & downloads
- No per-page overage charges
Professional
- 2,000 fax pages per month
- 3 dedicated fax numbers
- HIPAA compliance + self-serve BAA
- Sign documents before sending
- Priority delivery
- No per-page overage charges
Business
- 5,000 fax pages per month
- 5 dedicated fax numbers
- HIPAA compliance + self-serve BAA
- Public API & webhooks
- Audit logs
- Team roles & permissions
- Priority support
Enterprise
- 8,000 fax pages per month
- 10 dedicated fax numbers
- Everything in Business
- Public API & signed webhooks
- Dedicated support
- Custom integrations
No per-page overage. No activation fees. No contracts. Cancel anytime.
What’s current · as of August 2026
- HIPAA large-breach reporting threshold
- 500+ individuals — reported to HHS OCR without unreasonable delay Source: HHS Office for Civil Rights
- HIPAA documentation retention period
- 6 years from creation or last-effective date Source: HHS — HIPAA Administrative Requirements (45 CFR 164.316)
Recent updates
Federal interoperability rules keep pushing healthcare past the fax machine
CMS has advanced a series of interoperability rules that press hospitals, payers, and providers toward electronic data exchange and standardized claims attachments. The direction of travel is clear: paper and analog fax workflows are being replaced by digital transmission that carries an auditable record — which is exactly what a cloud fax with delivery confirmation provides for offices not yet on a full EHR pipeline.
CMS →Federal agencies still write fax into new rules and notices
The Federal Register — the daily journal of U.S. federal rulemaking — regularly publishes rules and notices that reference fax as an accepted or required submission channel for filings with agencies like the IRS, SSA, and CMS. That is why fax remains a live requirement for many official forms even as electronic portals expand.
Federal Register →Healthcare breach reporting keeps document handling under scrutiny
Ongoing reporting on HIPAA breaches and OCR settlements underscores how much scrutiny falls on how medical documents are stored, sent, and received. Sending records through a controlled, access-logged channel rather than an unmanaged machine reduces the mishandling risks that show up repeatedly in breach analyses.
HIPAA Journal →
FISMA Fax Compliance — FAQ
No. FISMA compliance for a system rests on an Authority to Operate from an authorizing official, and cloud services in scope generally need FedRAMP authorization. Send FAX Mail does not hold a FedRAMP ATO, so it cannot be assumed to be an authorized component of a federal information system.
Its encryption, MFA, role-based access, and audit logging align with objectives in the access-control, identification-and-authentication, audit-and-accountability, and system-and-communications-protection families for the fax application. The full 800-53 baseline for your system is far broader and is owned by the agency.
That is a decision for your ISSO and authorizing official. Because we do not carry a FedRAMP ATO, an agency should evaluate whether the tool fits within an authorized boundary or is limited to non-federal-information use, rather than treating it as pre-authorized.
HIPAA protects health information for covered entities and their business associates; FISMA protects federal information systems using an ATO and the NIST Risk Management Framework. Send FAX Mail offers a HIPAA BAA from $39.99/month, but a BAA is not a FISMA authorization — they are separate regimes.
FISMA-compliant faxing starts at $39.99/mo
Encrypted transmission, audit logs, secure storage. No enterprise contract needed.
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