T 5.90 Manipulation of address books and distribution lists

On most fax servers it is possible to maintain address books and distribution lists. The information held in address books includes the fax numbers of recipients. It is also possible to combine several fax recipients into one group, e.g. for sending out serial fax transmissions. Such address books are very convenient to use since, once a recipient's fax number is held in store, faxes can be sent to that person without having to enter the number manually. Often users of a fax server no longer bother to check that the fax number entry held in the address book for the recipient is actually correct prior to sending out a fax. The same applies to the assignment of individual recipients to groups. Often no one bothers to check before sending out serial fax transmissions whether the members of a given distribution group are identical with the people to whom the fax should be sent.

Distribution lists can be used to assign incoming fax transmissions to (several) recipient(s).

As long as the possibility that an unauthorised person can alter address books and distribution lists is not ruled out, there is a risk that fax transmissions could be sent to unintended recipients. It is also possible that a fax could be prevented from being sent to the intended recipient. By their nature, address books and distribution lists which are maintained centrally are especially at risk.