Boston is a city full of history and culture. It’s also home to many businesses – both small and large. As a business owner in Boston, it’s important to make sure that your data is secure. Here are some recommendations for data protection that will help keep your business safe.
Document Shredding
One of the best ways to keep your data safe is to shred all paper documents that contain sensitive information. This includes files that contain old tax returns, financial statements, and customer records. By using a document shredding service to destroy your private information, you’ll make it much harder for identity thieves to access the data.
Media Destruction
In addition to paper documents, you should also shred any digital files that contain sensitive information. This includes things like cell phones, USB drives, and CDs. Media destruction is a process that destroys the physical media so that the data on them cannot be recovered.
Hard Drive Destruction
If you have any old hard drives that you no longer use, it’s important to destroy them properly. Hard drive destruction is a process that physically destroys the hard drive so that the data cannot be recovered.
Encryption
Encrypting your data is another great way to keep it safe. Encryption is a process that encodes data so that it can only be accessed by authorized users. Encryption makes it much harder for criminals to access your information if they were to get their hands on your hard drives or other media.
Strong Passwords
One of the most important things you can do to protect your business data is to use strong passwords. This means using a mix of letters, numbers, and special characters. It’s also important to change your passwords regularly.
Two-Factor Authentication
Two-factor authentication is an extra level of security that requires both something you know like a password and something you have like a phone. This makes it much harder for someone to access your data if they happen to get their hands on your password.
Prioritize Your Data
You don’t need to keep all of the data that your business collects — at least not forever. Sort through your trade analytics, lead lists, and other information to determine which pieces of data are most valuable to you (and which are the most timely), then organize them accordingly.
Once you have figured out what you need to keep, then destroy whatever you aren’t keeping, whether it be with a document shredding or a hard drive destruction service.
Backups
Finally, it’s important to always have backups of your data. This way, if your primary copy is lost or destroyed, you’ll still have a backup that you can use to restore your data. There are many different ways to back up your data, so find a method that works best for you and your business.
By following these tips, you can help keep your data safe from thieves. If you are looking for a reliable shredding company to destroy your old documents, hard drives, or old media, look no further than A1 Data Shred.
We offer a range of services to help Boston-based companies secure their information and minimize their risk of data breaches. Contact our team today to learn more about our shredding services.
Financial institutions have a lot of sensitive data that they need to protect. Not only is the information about their customers confidential, but they also have business secrets that they need to keep safe. Using shredding services is one of the best ways to protect them.
Shredding services can help financial institutions shred all their documents with confidential information so that they can’t be accessed by anyone who shouldn’t have it, but that’s not all. In this blog post, we are going to talk about all the reasons why financial institutions should use shredding services and tips for choosing a good provider.
Why Financial Institutions Should Use Shredding Services
Financial Data Is Highly Sensitive
Now, this reason is the most obvious but is extremely important. Shredding services exist to protect the confidential information of a business or individual. This is essential for financial institutions as they handle a great deal of personal information about their customers. If this data were to fall into the wrong hands, it could be used for identity theft, fraud, or other malicious activities.
Financial data requires the strictest management to prevent expensive breaches. Companies should take their utmost care to create a policy that caters to strict data protection regulations. This needn’t be time-consuming or difficult; one easy way to ensure that you’re destroying secure documents sufficiently after use is by using a shredding service by a professional company.
Compliance Is Essential
Shredding secure documents doesn’t just protect customers but organizations too. By complying with legislation, companies within the financial sector are avoiding legal and financial implications should a data breach occur and confidential information is used against them. A lack of security can lead to significant repercussions such as fines and compensation, as well as destroyed customer trust and reputation damage for a long period.
Save Money and Time
Hiring a shredding service is actually more cost and time-effective in the long run than shredding documents in-house. This is because most shredding companies offer their services on a regular basis, so you don’t have to worry about setting aside time to shred all your documents. Furthermore, by using a shredding company, you can be sure that all your documents will be shredded properly without any confidential information being used for fraudulent purposes, saving you money.
Document Management
Shredding is a crucial part of any organization’s overall document management program. You need to shred documents regularly to keep on top of the confidential information you are holding. A shredding company can help you develop a regular shredding schedule that fits in with your business needs, so you can be sure that all your documents are being destroyed on a regular basis.
Tips For Choosing a Shredding Provider
Now that we’ve talked about all the reasons why financial institutions should use shredding services let’s talk about some tips for choosing a shredding company.
Make Sure the Shredding Provider Has the Services You Need
When you are looking for shredding services, it is important to find a company that offers a service that fits your specific needs. Some shredding companies offer on-site shredding, while others offer off-site shredding.
On-site shredding means that the machines for destroying documents are located at your location, while off-site shredding refers to the destruction of documents at a secure facility. Either way, your documents are being destroyed in a secure manner.
The Company is AAA NAID Certified
When you are looking for shredding services, make sure that the company is AAA NAID certified. This certification means that the company has been audited and found to be in compliance with the highest security standards in the industry.
Good Reviews
Last but not least, make sure that the shredding company you are considering has good reviews. This will give you an idea of the quality of their services and whether or not they are a reputable company.
Financial institutions have a lot of confidential information that needs to be protected. A1 Datashred can help you protect your data by providing secure shredding services. We offer both on-site and off-site shredding, so you can choose the option that works best for you. Contact us today to book a shredding service!