You may have heard before about the concept of a shredding event, though you may not know what it is exactly. For those of you who are not familiar with this concept, we will hopefully provide some insights that will help you understand shredding events. The main things to know is this: they are hosted to benefit the whole community, are a great way for everyone to get their shredding done, and raise awareness on the importance of information safety.
What It’s All About
Benefiting The Community
The big thing with shred events is the goal of keeping our communities safe. Many people are not aware of the true risks information theft poses. Throwing one of these events provides the opportunity to keep the community protected. As a big event, the public is invited to come on out with their sensitive information and get it shredded on the spot. For many that is an opportunity they may not have previously had available.
Raise Awareness
Not only is this an opportunity to get some documents shred that they may not have before, these events are great for informing our communities why shredding is important. Since they bring everyone together, you can ensure your neighbours are informed about information security. That is really the heart of a shredding event, ensuring that everyone is informed and protected. Communities look after each other, in any way they can, but there are some threats that are less tangible, and it makes tackling them difficult. Information theft is one threat you can tackle as a community through shred events.
What Happens To The Shreds?
One thing people always want to know is what happens to the shreds after the papers have been destroyed. We’re committed to helping push forward sustainability efforts. To that end, all shreds are taken to be recycled properly and turned into new products. In this way a shred event helps the people, and the environment.
Let’s put it into perspective. By recycling just 1 ton of paper 17 mature trees are saved. 7000 gallons of water will not be used, and 3 cubic yards of landfill space gets saved for trash that is supposed to go there. 2 barrels of oil and 4100 kilowatt-hours of electricity is not consumed, which lowers the overall impact of the energy sector. Now take those numbers and pump it up to an entire community shredding their papers. As you can see, the impact is incredible.
How To Organize An Event
Setting up an event is as simple as choosing a location, date and time, and selecting a service provider that can shred the documents. The details get hashed out, and the shred truck arrives at the appointed place, and the community gathers. From there the event happens, and we’re all the better for it.
So consider setting up a shred event for you, the community, and the environment!
With more and more people working from home these days, depending on where you are of course, the amount of cyber scams that target home workers has also increased. For many people, this new digital work environment is new, and they aren’t used to identifying obvious, and less obvious, attempts at cyber scams. In order to try and help you along, let’s look at some of the common ones that may float through your cyberspace.
Business / IT Email Fraud
Email scams have increased since the start of this whole pandemic, specifically related to business and IT industries. Since many businesses have had to make emergency financial transactions, rushed orders, and cancelled requests. All this new back and forth leads to an opportunity for scam emails to slip in unnoticed, especially since it is difficult for remote workers to get a quick answer from co-workers to verify the legitimacy of said email.
Healthcare Scams
You may have noticed that there is a pandemic currently and that leads to an increase in medical needs. Medical scams have gone up to try and capitalize on people’s fear, and their needs for medical supplies. COVID-19 scams specifically have come out of the woodwork, people receive an email saying they were infected with the virus, or in an infected area, and request your personal information, or to fill out a form.
Assistance Fraud
Some places are receiving government assistance during the pandemic, others are hotly debating it. Whatever the reality is, fraudsters are once again trying to take advantage of the situation. Emails claiming to be registrations and applications for these programs are sent out, getting you to fill in all your details. Then, just like that, they’re able to commit identity theft. It’s important to understand how assistance programs in your area, if any, work, and how they will get in touch with you.
Learn How To Avoid Suspicious Emails
The best way for home workers, and anyone really, to protect themselves from these types of scams is learning to recognize them as they come in. If an email comes in and seems to look weird, don’t respond to it, if you don’t recognize the sender, don’t respond to it. Certainly don’t send back any information, or fill out forms, click any buttons, etc. In fact, if an email looks suspicious or you don’t recognize it, don’t even open it. Get verified if you’re not sure, otherwise feel free to delete right out of hand.
When you need a safe collection place for your sensitive documents in the office, you should get shred bins placed in strategic locations. The bins offer a convenient and secure way for you to implement document disposal. Sometimes though, people can get confused about what exactly should and should not get placed into the bins. Let’s clear that up now so you can get on with your information security.
What Does Go In A Shred Bin
The list of what goes in is very straight forward. Any kind of sensitive documents you may have belong in this bin. Any and all print outs, letters, official documents, medical records, etc. Anything containing sensitive information. You can even throw in the envelopes, folders, staples, and paper clips that are included with them if you want, the shredders can easily handle them.
What Does Not Go Into A Shred Bin
Now we come to the real meat and potatoes of the issue: what you don’t put in. The list we’ll go over is short and sweet, and may seem very obvious, but sometimes people need a friendly reminder about what should and shouldn’t be done.
Assorted Garbage / Recycling
Since we are talking about shredding bins, you obviously do not use it to throw away your trash or recycling. It’s entirely possible that a rather cheeky individual might decide slipping some trash into your shred bins is a good way to get rid of some stuff, but you’ll only be creating trouble. Lets avoid doing this as it is irresponsible, and dishonest.
Electronics
Most people know by this point about the destruction of electronics being the only safe way to dispose of them. Some may be tempted to throw a few old hard drives and USB sticks into their bin with the papers. There are some serious risks with doing this, which is why the processes are different. Electronics have heavy metals in them, in addition they may have batteries as well. These chemicals could, if given the right conditions, break down and leak toxins into your bin, presenting a hazard to anyone who uses it.
Additionally, batteries could leak their acid into the bin with similar results. Lithium-ion batteries, which are extremely common these days, can also pose a fire risk in the right conditions. Do you want to have a fire hazard in a bin full of papers in the corner of your office? Probably not.
Stick To Its Purpose
Secure shredding bins have their specific purpose, that is the safe disposal of sensitive information in support of your information security procedure. We can help you out with that should you need it. Bins, used properly, and a full suit of services.
The shredding of secure documents is a vital aspect of information security in this day and age. There are those out there who spend their time attempting to steal your information so they can commit felonies in your name. One way to counteract this is by destroying your information, for paper records specifically that involves having them shredded into fine confetti. But what actually happens to the shreds there after? Are they just carted off to parts unknown?
The Fate Of Paper Shreds
Once the paper shreds are taken away from your location, or the shred facility, they get taken to a very special place. That place is, of course, a recycling facility. And that’s the big secret, your dutifully shredded papers are taken to be recycled into new products. Please don’t hold your applause.
In all seriousness, this is a very important aspect of the document shredding process. While some would be satisfied with simply having their information destroyed, it is a large initiative in the shred industry to support sustainability efforts. With paper usage maintaining a historic high, it is more important than ever to begin reducing our impact.
When paper finds its way into the landfills, it causes them to fill up much faster then they should. Once it reaches capacity it must be closed and new ones open elsewhere. Furthermore, the more paper that is wasted, the more trees that will have to be cut. The paper industry has a large impact on the environment, consuming large amounts of power, oil, water, and of course trees. Recycling even one ton of paper can save 17 mature trees, 7000 gallons of water, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 2 barrels of oil, and 4100 kilowatt-hours of electricity.
As you can see, sending paper shreds for recycling has a big impact. Of course those shreds end up being used in new paper products which get sent back out into the world. And that is ultimately the fate of your shredded papers. If this sounds like a fate you’d like to consign said papers too, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
September is right around the corner, whether you can believe that or not, and that means a new school year will be starting soon, in whatever form that takes. Due to the abrupt onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many schools and other educational institutions were forced to shut down suddenly. This can easily lead to many of these places falling behind on their information shredding efforts, and with the nearing of a new year, it is time to get back on it if they haven’t.
Getting Back In The Groove
For starters, if you’ve fallen way behind during this whole period, you need to pick up where you left off. Hopefully you were on the ball leading up to the closure, but if you weren’t, it is time to get caught up. Let’s start with getting you back on track.
As awful as it sounds, those who are in the business of stealing private information to use for identity theft, or other nefarious purposes, seek out student records. Using those records they could accomplish a number of horrible things, all of which can have negative effects on the students going forward. Imagine applying to your dream university, only to be rejected for bad grades, or misconduct, that you never did. How do you prove your innocence? You could be facing a hard uphill battle for years to come in an attempt to clear your name.
This is why it is critical for educational institutions to be vigilant in how they handle student information. The first step is keeping your filed records secured, no matter what formats they come in. It is a big responsibility, but it is one that needs to be taken seriously.
Staying on top, or getting caught up as may be the case given the circumstances, does not have to be difficult. Having a good document management system in place is the ideal way to start. For those that do, and are at the point where it is time for destruction, the options are plentiful:
Document Shredding – This will destroy your paper records beyond any means of recovery. No need to sort out staples, folders, paper clips, etc. Everything will get chewed up in equal measure.
Hard Drive Destruction – For information stored on hard drives, you need to make sure to physically destroy them. If you don’t do this, there is every chance that data recovery programs can be run on it to retrieve information you’d rather be lost. Physical destruction ensures that nothing is able to be recovered.
It’s best to get back in the groove before the new school year begins, however that looks like, and there’s no time like the present.
If you take a gander at the various blogs and articles out there about shredding you’ll know that a lot is said about shredding paper and destroying hard drives. It’s all in the cause of promoting information safety of course, and it is good advice to follow. Sometimes though the focus on paper and hard drives is too narrow, and we forget to look at a few other places that do require attention. After all, paper and hard drives are not the only mediums of storing information, though some of them have gone extinct.
Older Media
It wasn’t so long ago that a lot of information was being stored on other kinds of devices. While these days it seems as if it is all mostly being done through digital means, be it on data clouds or computer hard drives, older forms of media are still floating around out there. You need to keep these in mind, and consider doing something about them so you aren’t leaving some information vulnerable to theft.
Firstly, CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray, etc are still all too common these days, and many of us still have a stack of disks sitting around somewhere. Do you remember everything that they contain? Probably not, even if they are only old photos, are you sure you want to take a chance that something extremely sensitive isn’t on them? Going back a bit further, does everyone remember magnetic tapes? Those old cassette tapes and VHS tapes may be mostly long gone, but they still float around, and don’t forget that credit cards still have them.
Let’s turn the clock back further: floppy disks. The great grandparent to disks, usbs, and other modern storage devices. As unlikely as it seems, there are still those who have these old friends collecting dust somewhere with absolutely no idea what’s on them. Though they may be old and forgotten, their data is still accessible. In the age of smartphones it is easy to forget about the older style cell phones we use to tote around. Though limited in capabilities when compared with today’s standards, they did have data storage capabilities.
What Can Be Done?
So how do you handle these? The procedure is the same as if you were dealing with a modern hard drive. Complete physical destruction of the devices will ensure the data is destroyed and beyond recovery. All material will then be sent for recycling into new products in support of sustainability efforts.
Simply reach out to the shredder of your choice, and get on top of your media destruction.
There you sit, surrounded by endless towers of papers, cluttered desks, and boxes overflowing with papers. You know that you should handle these; In fact, you’re required to by law, but shredding is hard, isn’t it? You have to organize your materials, filter out unwanted materials like staples and paper clips, then haul it all out to some facility way out on the edge of town and hope that they take care of the papers properly. Although, come to think of it, that’s not exactly true now is it?
In today’s age, there is no shortage of paper shredding service providers, offering a whole host of services to cover all the possible shred needs. This means there’s no shortage of companies you can get service from. This makes things a little easier for you, but what are the other issues holding you back still? Maybe, even though there are plenty of companies that shred, you have concerns about dragging all your stuff down to the shred facility.
This is another unnecessary concern, a fake hardship as it were. Any shredder worth their salt will have a fleet of shredding trucks at their disposal. These trucks are equipped with an industrial grade shredder that can chew through any material you throw into it. Staples, paper clips, folders, etc, all get munched up easily, meaning you have no need to sort through your papers to remove these items.
These trucks are dispatched to your location, and a uniformed staff member collects your materials. You don’t even have to do anything, just sit back and watch everything happen. From there, the shredding can be witnessed from a monitor on the truck. Between not having to expend any effort on your part, and being able to watch the whole process, you have peace of mind.
Shredding has never been easier in this day and age, thanks in many ways to the advent of the shred truck. The amount of effort you personally have to go through has been reduced. Though if you are being careless in how you manage your documents from the get go you may end up with a bit more hassle on your end. The best thing you can do is to have a good document management system set up ahead of time, or at least develop one before things get out of hand.
Reaching out is all it takes to get onboard with shred service, there’s no reason to delay any longer. Help, and information security, is just one phone call, or an email, away from helping you.
One of the most important aspects in handling private information is keeping it well managed. The whole concept of a good management system is the ability to create, share, store, and organize your information efficiently and securely. In order to do this, you need to do 3 things to really build out your system: create a plan, implement the plan, and then follow through. Simple right?
Building Your Document Management System
So it’s time for a management system, but before we can jump right into it, we need to create a plan. Plans are good, they provide a direction to travel, and guides on how to navigate through space. In order to make this plan, we first need to answer four important questions.
How Are Documents Created?
Every business has a variety of documents created, invoices, spreadsheets, emails, memos, etc. The best way to keep these things organized is to establish a few rules in regards to document creation. Do new documents need to be time stamped and dated, what do the procedures for sharing documents look like? Do you only use templates, and are these in house templates or 3rd party documents?
Big businesses will surely have a wide range of documents being created all the time, making it harder to keep track of everything, but also making it far more important that they do. Smaller businesses likely have only a few types or styles of documents being made, making their job a bit easier. Size aside, you’ll need to hash out how collaborating on documents is handled for the sake of consistency and efficiency.
How Are Documents Stored?
Once documents are created they need to be kept some place that lets you access them quickly when needed, but keeps them secure while in storage. Will you utilize an off-site storage facility, or will you develop a system for on-site storage. Off-site document storage typically comes with some extra costs beyond the base storage fee, including the time it takes to get people to look for and then pull out the documents that you want, but there are benefits. These places are usually designed with disaster protections built in, fire resistance for example, giving you some extra peace of mind. You may not be able to go that far when storing on-site, but you may decide it is a risk you are going to take anyways.
The key to success is good file management practices, creating a clear and easy-to-follow system. Think about what your plans to archive old documents are as well, how are you planning to deal with outdated documents?
How Will Documents Be Retrieved?
There comes a point when you will want to retrieve a document from storage, and having a good system in place will make this an easy process. It is closely tied with your filing practices, as how you organize your documents will affect how fast you can find what you need. Digital documents are typically faster to find, especially with good organization, and you won’t have to worry about returning it to the right spot. You also need to decide if documents need to be signed out, or some other kind of log kept in regards to access.
How Are You Planning To Secure Documents?
Now comes one of the big considerations: document security. Since documents are chalked full of private information, your security responsibilities are going to be large. Digital documents are going to require cyber security to protect them from attempts at data breaches. You also need to get old hard drives shredded when their time is done, lest you risk data theft. Physical documents need to be stored in a secure place, like a file cabinet or safe, preferably in a secured room, on a secured premise. Security tends to be one of the more expensive aspects of document storage, but it is a vital component, it’s worth spending some extra to get something good set up.
Implement And Follow Through
The best plan in the world is meaningless if you never put it into action, likewise a good plan implemented poorly can be disastrous. Figure out how exactly you will transition into this new process, and get everyone educated into the proper way of doing things. Be open to modifying the plan as you put it into action, you may find that some aspects are great on paper, but are a pain to practice.
Make a plan, put it into action, and keep up with it. That’s how you get started with your document management system.