Shredding News

These days, it isn’t unusual to hear stories about people who have had their identities stolen, credit ratings trashed, and reputations put at risk. The Internet, unfortunately, provides a forum for making identity theft easier and more expedient. However, there is no need to panic, for one can take measures to decrease the possibility of this happening to you. Common sense and vigilance are the keys to keeping your identity – and consequently your finances and future – safe.

Good Steps to Take to Prevent ID Theft

If you are concerned about private, sensitive information being exposed for thieves to use against you, there are things you can do to maintain your security, especially on the Web. Here are a few suggestions for keeping your ID your own.

Shred Important Documents and Receipts: Once you are finished with invoices, credit card statements and anything else that has personal or financial information, make sure it is shredded thoroughly. But watch for personal shredders, because even the craftiest white collar criminal can piece together strips. Look in your area for community shredding events, where professionals will take your paperwork and shred it with an industrial strength machine.

Be Careful When Shopping Online: Buying products and services via the Internet may be easy, but if you give credit card information over an insecure website you risk exposing that information to hackers. Look for the lock icon on your browser when you shop, and only make purchases from sites you trust. If you receive e-mail newsletters from vendors, be wary of clicking through to websites unless you have opted-in to a specific mailing. Many times scam artists disguise e-mails to look like a legitimate company advertising to you. Sometimes hovering your mouse over the links will reveal a dubious address.

Change Passwords Periodically: If you are the type to use the same password for a multitude of protected websites, consider mixing it up a little, and changing your password from time to time. Do not use a password closely associated with you – children’s names, phone number, etc. – that somebody could figure out.

Give as Little Information on Yourself as Possible: Social media is a popular trend right now, with millions of people using Facebook and Twitter to connect to friends. If you feel the need to be social, don’t give out too much information about yourself. Use an e-mail address with a gender neutral ID and try not to volunteer geographical information if you can.

For more tips on Internet identity safety, the Electronic Frontier Foundation is a good source, and the site of the Federal Trade Commission offers good tips for consumers and businesses. The more you know, the better you can protect yourself, and your identity.

It is estimated that the average American office worker uses over a hundred pounds of paper annually for various tasks. When you think about a company of a hundred employees, you realize that’s ten thousand pounds of paper! One can only guess how many Social Security numbers, payroll designations, legal documents, and other important notes are printed and passed around a building in one year.

As companies turn to greener options like increased utilization of e-mail and word processing documents, the need to store excess paper is certain to fade. Yet, to simple dump everything in the trash poses risks to corporate and personal security, so the best option for cleaning house is to start shredding.

Should a company handle document shredding in-house? Believe it or not, there are risks associated with that as well. By hiring a licensed, bonded contractor to shred your business papers, you can save your company money and time and maintain productivity. Here’s how:

Employee production remains on company work. Say you have half a ton of back-logged documents to shred. To take a worker off his current task and move him to something else slow production. Contracting a professional shredding service eliminates the need to restructure.

In-house security leaks are reduced. As an employer, you are certain you have hired trustworthy people to help run your business. Placing one person in charge of shredding private documents, however, grants him access to information that may not be his to know. To prevent possible leaks, hiring an outside company is the better solution.

Safety measures must be recognized. Depending on the type of shredder you plan to use in-house, your company could be held liable if an employee has an accident. Somebody inexperienced in mass shredding could get hurt if clothing gets caught in a machine. A professional shredding service, with workers trained in the field, reduces this risk.

A professional shredder completes the job. Say you have a large amount of paper to shred. Removing employees from their work to take care of it could lead to problems with the actual destruction of the documents. Somebody may thing the job too arduous and boring and might not shred as well as needed, thereby allowing important information to be found and abused. Using a professional shredding service ensures the job is done correctly.

If you run a business, chances are the need to destroy certain documents will arise. As some printed information becomes obsolete and clutters space, employing a professional shredding service not only protects your company from possible identity theft, but it can preserve the environment through safe recycling measures. The question of which documents to shred may be argued among administrators, though for some it isn’t difficult to ascertain. In fact, you may be required to destroy specific papers under penalty of law.

The improper destruction of outdated and time sensitive data may put a company at risk of violating certain employment laws, including the Privacy Act, the Economic Espionage Act, and may constitute a breach in contracts between employers and their companies. Therefore it is important to be aware of the types of paperwork that should be thoroughly shredded to protect private information. Suggested information includes the following:

Accounting Data: Banking information and documents, cancelled checks, copies of checks, billing information, and payroll data.

Notes: Internal office memos, meeting notes (even the smallest of Post-Its with important info!), visitor logs, drafts of letters and proposals, phone messages.

Personal Information: Social Security numbers, obsolete employee records, expired employee contracts, customer database information, education records.

Sales Information: Shipping data, old receipts, supplier information, purchase orders, anything that would have payment or credit information attached.

The more you have that can be traced to any kind of credit card or banking information, the more should be destroyed when the information is no longer applicable to your work. To hang on to important data such as this puts the privacy of not only your company at risk, but any third-party vendor or supplier who has done business with you. It doesn’t take much for an identity thief to capture what he needs to cause tro

In summer the sun beckons, calling us out of our offices and into the fresh air. This is the time people are preparing for relaxing vacations, yet if an identity thief gets a hold of your information while you are away you can be certain you’ll take more than memories home. At home or at play, you’re at risk for the headaches and frustration involved in clearing your name and credit reports.

Tourists are especially vulnerable to falling victim to ID theft. It only takes one moment of distraction – leaving something important behind at a restaurant or hotel – to entice a thief into embarking on his own vacation…on your dime. However, there are ways to protect yourself and your families as you travel. Before you leave for your trip, take care to ensure your fiscal safety.

Here are some tips to follow during vacation time:
• Take only the essentials! Leave the checkbook and credit cards locked in your home safe. Your driver’s license, a gas card, and one or two credit/debit cards is all you should have with you. Should you happen to lose any of these while on the road, contact the necessary banking authorities and companies immediately.
• Save everything! Hang on to every receipt and keep them together. When your credit statements from your trip arrive, compare all the purchases to make sure there are no surprises. Shred everything once you are confident everything is okay.
• Watch when you surf! If you use free wireless anywhere – a café, a hotel, or other hotspot – limit where you browse. Don’t make any online purchases or check financial accounts online. The less private information you relay, the better.
• Stay vigilant on vacation, especially when you shop, and keep your identity protected so you can enjoy your vacation.

Regardless of your beliefs in feng shui, one can argue that a productive business is one that isn’t cluttered. To be surrounded with piles of papers and boxes in disarray can distract you from your daily tasks, and tempt you to spend time sorting through files you don’t need, if only to relieve yourself of the distraction. Especially in an uncertain economy, it’s important to remain focused, so now is the time to get rid of the clutter and get back to work.

Why are you saving it?

Take a look around your office. Are you working towards a paperless system of communication with e-mail and digital documents? If so, it’s time to consider ridding your workspace of outdated and unnecessary paper. Depending on how long you have been in your business, you may find you have stockpiled an impressive collection of expired contracts and manuals, receipts that have long been recorded on taxes and other internal memos that no longer apply to the now. If there is no real reason for saving this work, it’s time to consider recycling or destroying the data. Don’t just bag everything and toss in the Dumpster, however. Even with expired information, there could be something there an identity thief could use. Everything you have, collect it for a professional shredding service to destroy.

If you must keep it, file it!

Don’t let papers and unused notebooks pile up and clutter your office. If you must keep certain documents for reference, invest in a tidy filing system and organize your workspace. The more you clear your work area of distractions, the better you can focus on getting the job done right. If you’re unsure of how to go about organizing your space, consult with your office manager for the best solution.

Businesses large and small play active roles in their community through various sponsorships and events. Turn on your local public television station and you’ll find shows funded by grants from corporations, and if you visit a ballpark you might see billboards thanking businesses that donated time or revenue. Giving back to the community is a great way to do business, and if you are looking for a way to expose your name and brand to your region, hosting a shredding party is the way to go.

What is a Shredding Party?

It may be held in the parking lot of a business or in a community park. A shredding party invites people in the community to bring expired documents and sensitive information to an industrial shredder to be destroyed. Many professional shredding companies will offer the use of panel trucks in which heavy-duty equipment renders paper unreadable, protecting Social Security numbers, credit card statements, and other personal data from being stolen. Bales of the shreddings are then taken to a recycling center where they enjoy a second life as paper cups and plates, and tissue.

Who Can Host a Shred Event?

Typically, financial institutions will partner with a professional document destruction company to put on an event. Banks and insurance agencies, and tax offices may hold such gatherings, but your line of work should not limit your participation. Any community-minded business wishing to volunteer time and resources to helping people can consult with a shredding office to plan a party…and events need not be limited to bringing in documents. Hold a canned food drive in tandem with the event, or arrange with a school to schedule a weekend on their parking lot and offer them the opportunity to raise funds for clubs and sports through a car wash or bake sale.

The Benefits of Hosting an Event

While you will be expected to cover some cost of an event, depending on the scale and participation of others, you can consult with your accountants with regards to writing off the expenses. Furthermore, attaching your name to an event that costs participants nothing is great for exposure. Hang banners with your logo, give out pencils and keychains, and your business could be etched in the minds of those who may need your expertise in the future. You will be recognized as a civic-minded business working to help the environment, too.

Give back to your community by giving them peace of mind. A public shredding party is a great way to promote identity security and recycling, and a great PR opportunity for your place of work

Running a business is not without its occasional speedbumps. Whether you operate a retail store or work in finance – commercial, wholesale, or business-to-customer – you’ll know to look for certain signs to adjust inventory and advertising, but sometimes aspects of work creep up on you to the point that you don’t realize it until it’s too late. The need to clear the clutter from your office and headquarters, for example, can rise to an urgent level if you let things sit too long.

How do you know when it’s time to call a professional shredding service to come collect your invalid data for destruction? Aside from the obvious pile-up of papers and outdated software, there are more subtle warnings you should note first before the situations gets out of hand.

1) Updates in ERP software. If your company has recently upgraded or installed a brand new software system, chances are you have been left with quite a few obsolete disks and drives. Don’t erase them – chances are a hacker could still find sensitive data there. Anything that doesn’t work and shouldn’t leave the office needs to be destroyed.

2) Significant changes in personnel/business. Have you undergone layoffs? Perhaps business is booming and you’ve taken on more workers. Either way, a drastic change in the size of your business could render certain training manuals and policies invalid. It will be necessary to shred information considered confidential.

3) Suspicion of security breech. It only takes a simple threat to set off alarms. If your company has recently experienced the layoff or resignation of a disgruntled employee, it’s best to ensure that your private information stays that way. Take care that superfluous paper data is always destroyed lest it could be taken home as a souvenir.

Be mindful of how your business works and what moves in and out of the offices. Huge changes in work usually signal huge changes in the way you handle document destruction.

If you wish to instill a sense of security among your employees, leaving copious amounts of paper and sensitive data lying around the office is not the way to go about it. When an employee agrees to work for you, not only do they commit to utilizing their skills on your time, they expect an amount of job security. This doesn’t necessarily mean the assurance that they’ll have a job the next day, either. Employees want to know they are protected.

When personal information leaves a restricted area, people could be at risk. Expired documents, financial statements, old employee records, and medical records are among the items that should be destroyed on a regular basis. Easing minds with the presence of an office shredder may inspire confidence, but is that really enough to keep your business protected?

First, consider the size of your business. How many employees work for you, and what is the regular output of paper that should be destroyed after time? A small company of less than ten people could be satisfied with an industrial strength machine in-house. The average small office shredder can take care of up to 400 sheets a day before one must check it for cleaning and quality assurance. Companies with larger workloads and personnel may wish to consider hiring out a service that securely handles your data desecration needs.

Do you keep sensitive data on CD-ROM or flash drive? If so, you should know a simple erase doesn’t guarantee your information is secure. Rendering the data storage unit unreadable is the only way to assure privacy. This goes for hard drives as well. A standard office shredder won’t do the job, so consider this before you make the investment.

Take care of your company with proper security measures. Determine through the size of your company and amount of output as to whether or not you should handle your own documentation destruction.

These days, the sense of anxiety that begins the holiday shopping season appears diminished, not so much that people don’t plan to shop this year, but because there are more options for gift buying. Once we’d wake at midnight and prepare to hit the stores as early as possible, these days we simply access the Internet for savings. Online shopping for gifts is fun, but if one does it improperly it could hurt as bad as an elbow to the stomach while reaching for that hot toy.

With extended Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales advertised on the major retail websites, online shoppers are certain to spend through the month. The increase in buying, unfortunately, can come with a price not found on any tag. If you’re not careful, you can put yourself at risk for identity theft if somebody happens to get a hold of your credit card number.

Stay safe this season. Here are a few simple steps to take to help make this holiday memorable for the joy, rather than headaches, it will bring:

1) Shop at stores you trust - If you are looking for a specific item and see it available on a website you’ve never before visited, consider searching a bit deeper to see if it’s available elsewhere before you buy. Sites that house independent vendors and artists, like eBay and Etsy, have buyer policies listed. Be sure to read them.

2) Look for the lock - If you intend to complete an online payment, make sure the site is secure. Look for the lock icon on your website. If there isn’t one and you still wish to purchase, try to make an arrangment through another method of payment.

3) Do not use a bank card - Most bank cards double as credit cards when buying items, but it’s best not to use one online if it’s attached to a bank account. If you use a service like Paypal, try to use that when possible.

4) Be mindful of e-mail alerts - It’s natural to click through an e-mail to an interesting sales item, but watch where you click! If you receive an alert, make sure it’s one to which you opted in. Take care not to click through a phishing mail message where your credit card information could be stolen.

Stay safe this holiday season when you shop. Enjoy the sales and mind the spending!