Confidentiality of Information

Security is an issue which was addressed early in the development of EDI. If trading partners exchange messages without an intermediate VAN, one or both will utilize a security protocol to control access, usually as part of a companywide program of data security. More commonly, messages are exchanged over a VAN. VANs insulate the trading partners from each other and restrict access through identification codes and passwords. VANs also offer encryption and authentication of messages for an additional charge.

Despite these precautions, EDI messages do travel over "public" networks – usually phone lines – and there is a possibility that a message may be intercepted or misrouted. However, this risk is judged to be no greater than sending similar information in the mail. In practice, security breaches have been extremely rare, and the widespread acceptance of EDI is proof that the security issues are manageable.