Today, more people are turning to their personal devices such as their cell phones and tablets to store their personal information; after all, what is a more convenient solution than one that is literally glued to most of us daily? With an increase in online information storage, however, comes an increase in the threat of identity theft. This fact is especially true while traveling.

In 2016, over 15 million Americans were victims of identity theft according to Experian. Close to 33 percent of this fraud occurred while people were on their travels.

As stated by Michael Bruemmer, vice president of consumer protection at Experian, the rise of the Internet has only aided hackers in their quest for your personal information. Everywhere we go now, we leave a digital footprint. Information is out there and gone as soon as you click enter or send on your phone/keyboard. This is crucial to keep in mind as information can be exposed faster and easier digitally, than via paper.

So what steps can you take while traveling?

Avoid using public WiFi

Public WiFi makes it really easy for thieves to hack into the information that is stored on your mobile device, yet many people continue to use it while they are traveling, which puts them at substantial risk. What can you do instead? Purchase a portable router to set up your own WiFi connection; you’ll need a local SIM data card to make this happen, but these can be bought at most electronic stores and even at airports.

Protect your phone with passwords and add tracking features

Remember that your phone has confidential information on it such as what data is required to access emails, and in some cases, it may even have your credit card information stored. Did you know that only 48% of people password-protect their smartphones? When password protection isn’t used, thieves can hack into your phone without much effort. What happens if your phone is stolen? You should have tracking set up on your phone as well so that if it’s lost or stolen you have a record of where it is. Enable location tracking and make sure passwords are updated and changed regularly for additional protection.

Refrain from posting your location or agenda on social media

A low 32 percent of people refrain from sharing pictures or status updates online while traveling, while 20% disable geotagging on pictures. It is highly recommended that you share and post about your trip once you’re home, as sharing what you’re doing when gives thieves a head start in locating you to potentially conduct a crime.

Only bring what is required and be sure it’s secure

If traveling abroad you will of course need your passport, but avoid bringing your birth certificate or social security number if and when possible. It’s a good idea to leave a couple of credit cards and debit cards at home as well; you won’t need all of them anyway.

Any sensitive documents or cards you need with you; be sure you keep them locked up in a safe or another secure spot in your hotel room.

Make a list of important documents

Having a record of the documents you are carrying is extremely smart, so if anything should go missing you know exactly what that might be. Prior to your trip, write down a copy of all of your important documents, bank information, health, and insurance details. If a theft does in fact take place, in doing so you can easily figure out who to contact and what information to give them.

Keep a close eye on credit card reports

Monitoring bank and credit card accounts, as well as credit reports, is always helpful in discovering any unusual activity under your account. If caught early enough often you can report the suspicions and your credit card company will handle the rest for you.

For more information security tips and ways in which you can stay protected before and after your travels, A1 DATASHRED has your back. We offer electronic destruction and document shredding for all of your unwanted, sensitive data.

Get in touch with us to learn more about our valuable services. Call 888-95-SHRED

Ransomware is a particularly nasty form of online malware where a hacker gains control of ones computer or computer system, and encrypts the hard drives so that the user can no longer use their computer, or access their files until a ransom fee is paid. To an inexperienced internet user, a ransomware attack can be quite scary.

Ransomware is not something many people consider while browsing the web, but the reality is that ransomware attacks are not just increasing in occurrence against consumers and businesses, but they are also becoming more aggressive with larger monetary demands and more sophisticated attack mechanisms. Two of the most prominent forms of ransomware are known as Locky and Cerber, with Cerber becoming the most prominent form of the two.

No Sign Of Relief Anytime Soon

The frequency of attacks also doesn’t seem to be decreasing. A 2017 report by Kaspersky noted that between April 2016 and March 2017, the total number of users who encountered ransomware attacks increased by 11.4%. The firm’s 2016 report noted that by the end of 2016, a business encountered a ransomware attack every 40 seconds.

Antivirus Software Often Won’t Cut It

Another important thing to understand is that ransomware is not a virus. Similar to a virus, ransomware is a form of malware. Malware is software which includes mechanisms designed to harm the system it is installed onto. Contrary to ransomware, a virus is a contagious piece of code which affects other software and operating systems once run. They tend to harm computers by modifying or deleting critical files which keep the computer functioning normally. It enters a computer through an infected piece of software (malware), just as ransomware does. However unlike ransomware, the damage can usually not be reversed, even by paying a ransom fee. This difference is important to understand, since commonly used antivirus programs often don’t protect against other forms of malware such as ransomware.

What You Can Do

So how can users protect themselves from ransomware attacks? There are a few preventative measures that internet users can take to minimize their risk of becoming a victim. Such measures include;

• Using an antivirus program on your computer.
• Installing a malware scanner and doing routine scans to ensure there are no strange files on your computer.
• Installing an ad blocker onto your web browser to remove fake advertisements which might download malware onto a computer.
• Avoid visiting websites with unrecognizable names and sensitive content.

While these steps can drastically minimize your risk of an attack, they will not protect your data in the event that your computer becomes victim to a ransomware attack. For this, the best way to minimize the damage is to back up your computer routinely to keep a copy of files, preferably on an external hard drive which is only connected to the computer during the backup process. Having a back up of your files may not save your computer, but it will save your important files.

Massachusetts businesses and residents can protect their confidential information and help the environment at the same time with A1 DATASHRED’s onsite document destruction service.

Some Facts about Paper Waste

• It takes about 1.3 gallons of water to make one piece of new paper
• 93% of paper comes from trees
• Half of business waste is paper
• The United States uses 12.1 trillion sheets of paper per year
• Paper accounts for 25% of landfill waste
• Paper demand is expected to double before the year 2030
• Every tree produces enough oxygen for 3 people

Shredding Reduces Paper Waste

Document destruction’s main purpose is to protect the confidential information of residents and businesses in Massachusetts from the perils of identity theft and corporate espionage.  The added benefit is how it helps the environment.  All of the documents that A1 DATASHRED destroys are recycled.  The recycled shredded paper is sent to a paper mill that will turn it back into paper pulp.  The pulp is then used to make other paper products such as writing paper, newspapers and paper towels. You might even end up using some of your old office documents as toilet tissue.  Every ton of shredded paper that is recycled will save 17 trees plus many other natural resources.

Start Green Shredding

Give A1 DATASHRED a call and we will go over what you would like to do.  We can then recommend a document destruction service that takes all of your needs and concerns in to account.  On the same call we will give you a great quote that gives you all of the costs upfront.  If you’re ready you can also schedule your service appointment.

Environmental Shredding for Business

A1 DATASHRED of two green options to dispose of your business records, Onetime and Schedule document destruction services.

One-time shredding will allow you to have professional onsite destruction of your company files only when you need it.  We don’t have any requirement for a volume of paper to shred or a required minimum number of visits we have to make to your office.  You could need us just once or a few times it is entirely up to you.

Scheduled shredding is for when you want to destroy business records and protect the environment on an ongoing basis.  We will provide you with security containers for you to dispose of your documents in so they no longer go into the regular trash and end up in a landfill or in the hands of an identity thief.  The containers are provided in a quantity sufficient to makes their access convenient for all of your employees.  Then A1 Datashred will come to your office and empty the containers and destroy the contents.  You can have a weekly, biweekly, every four weeks or a monthly schedule.

Residential Shredding

Every resident in Massachusetts is required to separate their trash into rubbish and recyclables.  Recycling is not protection of your private information because you papers are accessible to anyone in a recycle bin.  When you have your documents destroyed by A1 Datashred your private information is no longer readable and the paper is also recycled.  Residential shredding protects you and the environment so it is a win win situation.

Hard Drive Destruction

The physical destruction of your old hard drives is important to make sure that the information on them never gets into the wrong hands but you may be surprised to learn that it is also protects the environment.  A hard drive is made up on metal, glass and plastic.  When a hard drive is destroyed it is turned into pieces.  The destroyed hard drive is sent to a recycler that separates all of the material used to make the hard drive so they can be recycled and not end up in a landfill.

Give A1 Datashred a call we would love to help you with destroying your documents in an environmentally friendly way.

If you have had a chance to browse our website, you may have noticed that we are AAA NAID Certified.  If you aren’t familiar with this association, it may not mean a whole lot to you initially, but we want you to understand the significance behind this industry standards association.

To start, NAID stands for National Association for Information Destruction, and this group has done tremendous work for consumers in the document destruction industry. NAID is a standards setting body for the information destruction industry and is well recognized at the government level. It operates all over the world, verifying that document destruction professionals are providing solutions and operating their business as legislation mandates. If you are a certified member you are responsible for practicing certain procedures that ensure a high level of security and quality assurance for clients.

NAID’s certification program was designed and put into place by information security experts around the globe. Members who hold this certification may also undergo random audits to check that all commitments to the association and customers are being met properly.

The obligation to confirm companies have written policies that use the accurate legal terms and meet existing legal standards, actually falls on to the customer. If a customer partners with a document shredding company that does not run its business in line with the necessary legal standards and as a result the customer runs into legal trouble, the onus is not on the destruction company, but rather the customer.  NAID Certification is extremely important as a customer for this very reason. Part of the certification requires that data destruction firms have written policies which include the correct terminology, and comply with existing federal laws where relevant. This is a measure designed to keep customers protected and secure.

With this knowledge in mind, we highly recommend that you consider working with a NAID Certified shredding company. Of course there are companies who operate without NAID Certification who may do perfectly acceptable work, but the risk here is that there is simply no way or guarantee for the customer if something goes wrong.

A1 DATASHRED is AAA NAID Certified

We are proud to notify you that we are AAA NAID Certified and with this we maintain or exceed the standards to ensure our operations meet your legal compliance. A1 DATASHRED cooperates with other NAID members to ensure the document destruction community remains secure. All of our services and operations have been created to fall well within the scope of legal responsibilities for customers in all industries.

A1 DATASHRED is ready to bring our wealth of experience and shredding expertise to clients throughout the area of Boston.

Get in touch with our team for additional information. Call 888-95-SHRED

It is more imperative than ever, for organizations of all specializations and sizes take the necessary precautions to protect private business matters.  With that said, financial institutions and banks have an even higher expectation to maintain confidentiality for their business and clients, as the bulk of data dealt with pertains to financial details.

Operating and managing a bank comes with many key accountabilities and procedures that must be put in place to keep confidential information private. Failing to safeguard this data could lead to exposure, leaving your customers extremely vulnerable. Information theft continues to be an increasing concern and could be threatening to the reputation you’ve worked hard to create. Be sure you are taking the steps needed are storing records when necessary and securely shredding those documents that need protection.

At A1 DATASHRED we realize how challenging it can be to manage hundreds of documents that are bound to circulate throughout your office, especially when you are spending all of your time focusing on day to day business tasks that require your 100% dedication. Our solutions are in place to make it easy for you; no stress or hassle when it comes to this process because our professional team will look after you entirely. Our flexible document shredding services are convenient as they can get, performed directly at your location for your security. On the other hand if preferred, we can collect your sensitive records and transport them to our facility for destruction purposes. Our shredding services will help dramatically in keeping your company compliant, as we will design a customized schedule and program with you that meet your needs and budgetary requirements. Of course we’ll also ensure that shredding is completed to align with your institution’s due diligence and document shredding policy.  We guarantee our clients’ security and keep information protected from the minute it’s in our hands, through until the shredding is carried out. Customer information will never leave our secure chain of custody until it has been adequately destroyed.

How does the shred process work anyways? A qualified shred specialist will, with your agreement and supervision, collect your private documents and proceed to shred at your location or at our secure facility. Our highly advanced shred technology and equipment will shred in seconds what would probably take numerous hours to complete with an office shredder. Shredding is executed with ease and little distraction, and at the end of each shred job, we’ll present you with a “Certificate of Destruction” for your records, which clearly outlines the secure shredding did in fact take place the way you were told. Keep this for peace of mind and for your own personal records, if it is at all needed down the road.

A1 DATASHRED provides clients with reliable and compliant services, working with the following industries:

• Local & Regional Banks
• Brokerages
• Trust Companies
• Credit Card Companies
• Mortgage Companies
• Investment Firms
• Title Companies

Banks are legally obliged to shred multiple documents such as members’ checks, statements, and reports. Our team is here to help you improve your document control system. A1 DATASHRED wants to save you time and money; take advantage of our effective solutions!

Get in touch with our professionals to set up a suitable shredding schedule for your financial institution.  We are also more than pleased to speak to you about our destruction services. Interested in prices? Ask for a free, no-obligation quote.

Have you ever heard of a community shred day? If you’re a business who strives to give back to the community and specifically has an interest in information security, throwing a shred day may be a great way to network while you make a significant impact in reducing the risk of information theft among businesses alike, and of course individuals.

Information theft and fraud is a rising concern that is important to take seriously in an effort to stop the chances of being targeted. Ensuring you are doing everything possible to protect yourself, business, neighbors and friends from the consequences of such damaging crimes, is possible through partnering with A1 DATASHRED to host a Shred Day!

A shred day offers everyone in your community an easy and quick means to dispose of sensitive documents. It encourages residents and businesses to be proactive in protecting their identity and often it is free to participate with an occasional small donation in lieu. Why is professional shredding so important? In too many situations, financial records and other critical documents get tossed away in recycling and garbage bin because of sheer laziness and lack of knowledge. Unfortunately this disposal method leaves all information vulnerable and susceptible to theft, as nothing is secured.

How Do You Plan a Shred Day?

• Decide on the Event Size
  It’s time to stop and think about what size event you’d like to hold and what you’re comfortable with. Do you want to promote it through your entire community or just a select few areas? Depending on whether you have the appropriate resources and experience, this decision may vary and there is no right or wrong approach. If this is new to you, it might be best to start small to test the waters. With that said if you are feeling ambitious, go big!
• Find Volunteers
  If you’re organizing a smaller shred event, 2-3 people should suffice in terms of extra hands. If you’re hoping for or expecting a larger turn-out we highly recommend that you recruit closer to 10 individuals. Obtain assistance through social media, email, telephone, or even community bulletin boards in your town or city. You’ll more than likely receive support from family members and/or friends to start with. Once you’ve arranged appropriate assistance, be sure to delegate tasks to each person; your shred event will be a successful and stress-free one knowing you’ve covered all areas.

 Partner with a Reputable Shredding Company

Be sure you partner with a document shredding provider like A1 DATASHRED, whom you can rely on. Are they NAID certified, how long have they been in operation, and does their website seem reputable? These are all important factors to look into prior to selecting your shredding company. Not every shredding business provides mobile shredding services so you will need to confirm this. At A1 DATASHRED we offer both on-site and off-site document destruction services for additional flexibility.

 Choose a Good Location for Shredding

Always select a familiar location in your community to hold your shred event. You’ll want to go with something that is large enough to hold your expected crowd, and is easy for everyone involved. Remember that there will need to be sufficient space for a large A1 DATASHRED truck to maneuver through the area safely. Check that the location is also convenient for your attendees to get to; we suggest choosing a community center or municipal building.

• Communicate the Event

Spread the word and tell everyone you know! Communication efforts will of course be based on the expected size of your event, but if you’re concerned about a smaller than preferred turn-out, you can always consider getting in touch with local media for publicity. Ask your volunteers to notify people as well; word of mouth doesn’t cost you a dime and is extremely effective marketing!

• Start the Shredding Process

If able, arrive at least an hour before your event starts to verify all is organized and set up as it should be. Post signs around the given area so your event can be found quickly. Keep the event organized and the line moving.  Leave the rest to A1 DATASHRED to look after! We’ll shred in minutes what would normally take hours to shred with an office shredder. Your attendees can watch the shredding process firsthand, giving that extra peace of mind that their information has in fact, been shred appropriately.

A1 DATASHRED will work directly with your business to make your Shred Day a success!

Contact our professionals if you wish to discuss this great opportunity with our team.

Call 1-888-95-SHRED

Now that winter is giving way to the wonders of spring, we can look forward to the coming of nicer weather. With the nice weather comes that other thing as well: spring cleaning. While this isn’t the most anticipated time of the year, it is almost a gateway of sorts into the rest of the year. So, why not use this time to get a good start on your document shredding needs?

Sorting Through the Clutter

Since things tend to build up over the winter, be sure to give all those old records a good look over. Keep an eye out for your financial, banking, medical, and children’s’ records. These are some of the most common records that seem to pile up in households; sometimes for longer than a winter season. Once you’ve identified these records, put them aside in a secure place (where you won’t forget!) until you arrange for shredding services.

While you’re sorting through old records and cleaning up the house after spring, use this as a good opportunity to get your old electronics disposed of as well. When old electronic equipment ends up in the landfill, there are some pretty serious affects to the environment. As they deteriorate out in the open, the chemicals and heavy metals will leak into the air, water, and soil. Eventually they can be consumed by humans and animals that lead to adverse medical effects.

Before you get your electronics recycled, remove any data storage devices first. While it may seem like deleting the data will destroy it, this is sadly not the case. A bit of time, determination, and the right software is all it takes for someone with intent to start pulling your private data off a hard drive. Professional, complete physical destruction of electronic storage devices is the only way to be sure of your data’s security.

A1 DataShred is a professional shredding company that can take care of your document shredding, electronic waste recycling, and hard drive disposal needs. When you’re ready to get ahead this spring, reach out to us and book a shredding time. We’ll be there for you.

Call: 888-95-SHRED

Not Just for Businesses

When it comes to document shredding services, many people think it’s only for businesses. As a resident, what could you possibly have to shred? We don’t have large piles of medical records or credit card information after all, so why bother shredding?

You most certainly do have this information, and it needs to be shredded.

What Does a Resident Need to Shred Anyways?

The answer to this question is really straight forward. You need to shred basically the same documents as businesses. Financial information, medical records, and other personal information all find their way into our homes. Be it old bank statements or receipts for medication, you need to be sure all of it finds its way into the shredder for your own safety.

Great! Time to get a home office shredder then!

You might want to hold off on that actually. Home office shredders do a very poor job when it comes to professional shredding standards. They tend to shred papers into long strips that are easily reassembled with little time and effort. More expensive models are able to provide a more desirable shred pattern/size but they have a risk of burning out. Home office shredders can’t handle the volume and frequency of regular shredding and the motors can burn out, leaving you with an expensive paper weight.

Professional Residential Shredding is the Solution

Enter a professional shredding company like A1 DataShred who brings shredding right to your Boston door. The benefits of shredding at home are probably pretty obvious – you don’t have to go anywhere! No need to worry about how to bundle up and move a huge stack of paper, no need to find a place to take them to begin with. Shredding at home also offers a great deal of peace of mind for clients as they can watch the whole process. What is the process anyways?

Once you get in touch with A1 and arrange a time and place for shredding, a mobile shred truck will be dispatched to your location. Our friendly and professional uniformed staff member will greet you and ask to be shown the documents due for the jaws of shredding. Once collected they will be brought to the truck, loaded, and shredded right on the spot. A handy video monitor lets you watch all the action up close, letting you know firsthand that the job has been accomplished.

A Certificate of Destruction will be given to you upon completion of shredding, and after a handshake, the shred truck will depart to take the shredded material for proper recycling. You’ll be able to carry on now as you always did, but secure in the knowledge that your documents have been securely destroyed.

When it’s time for you to shred those sensitive documents at your Boston home, reach out to A1 DataShred, and we’ll take care of your needs with a smile.

888-95-SHRED