When most people today hear the phrase “data breach,” they probably assume it’s digital. This reflex is understandable. After all, so many aspects of modern life are online.
However, data that exists in physical form is every bit as sensitive and deserving of precautions. Let’s take a look at some of the leading causes of data breaches involving sensitive information in physical forms and how industry experts keep you protected.
Residential Threats
Most people store a vast trove of sensitive information in their homes related to things they buy and own. We have receipts stored for tax season and even previous tax documents. It’s not uncommon for people to write down their passwords somewhere they think is safe so they don’t get locked out of their accounts.
Old bills can reveal a lot about people’s habits and lifestyle. If a thief or scammer gets their hands on some of these papers, you may be surprised to learn how effectively they can use it to put together a full picture of who you are and what you do. Once they have this, they have different ways to lure you into a phishing scam or exploit this information.
Industry-leading data shredders extinguish the possibility of risk by securely shredding all your paper documents. They can come to your premises and destroy any confidential materials you think pose a risk of a data breach.
To add convenience, you can schedule a recurring shredding service if you need paper document destruction on a consistent basis or a one-time pickup, as you prefer. People need to store important documents in their homes for their records, but after these papers are no longer useful, get them shredded securely.
Office Records
Some professions must maintain paper documents for a specific number of years, so they’re legally bound to store sensitive material. In these cases, it’s essential to store them securely, mindful of the risks faced by them and their clients or customers. But those aren’t the only types of sensitive documents found in most offices or workplaces.
There could be data and documents related to previous or current employees, customers, or business partners. Niche professions have their own associated forms of documents, like blueprints, presentations, business plans, marketing material, payroll information, legal documents, and more. Each type has its own potential risks, as they contain considerable sensitive information people or even proprietary secrets about business trade secrets.
Leading commercial shredders can visit your premises for document destruction, or, if you prefer, you can drive it to their facility. Whether you’re just looking to make extra space in your office or you’d like to eliminate potentially sensitive documents so they can’t get leaked or stolen, call a professional destruction company to handle the case.
They will provide a secure hand-off before heading to their facility for safe destruction. All together, the operation is hermetically sealed and airtight. There won’t be any opportunity for these potential data liabilities to leak on their way to being destroyed.
Eliminating Electronics
Lots of sensitive data is floating around the online ecosystem or stored somewhere in paper form, but it’s also found on hard drives, flash drives, and other electronics. Destroying electronics needs to be done carefully. The data on them may still be retrievable, even if the device itself no longer works.
You may not think of the electronic devices storing the most data as possible openings for an information breach, but there are! Look for a professional shredder that can eliminate backup tapes and recordings, laptops, tablets, printer memory cards, flash drives, USBs, and more.
The leading shredding services in Toronto and the GTA don’t just eliminate the electronics. They do a lot more, such as safely recycle and dispose of the material in an environmentally friendly way. Recycling the waste diverts the material from the landfill while protecting you from a data breach.
Some professional shredders actually track how effective their diversion efforts are in protecting the environment by measuring the trees saved, gallons of water saved, and even the kilowatt hours saved. If you have old electronics you no longer use, get them shredded professionally.
It’s hard to know all of the information stored on these devices because, really, were you about to open an old device and explore the hard drive to see if it’s storing sensitive data? Shredding it is the safest thing to do.
Specialty Destruction
If people think about data and electronics first when they think of information breaches, paper documents usually come second. However, there are all kinds of objects that can contribute to an information breach and shredding them can be technically more challenging.
If sensitive data is stored in any form, it’s a liability, even if it’s not paper or electronic. Here are some of the common forms of sensitive info stored in unconventional ways:
- Uniforms
- Clothing or t-shirts
- Labelling and packaging
- Cosmetic packaging
- Pharmaceutical packaging
- Dental moulds
- X-rays
- ID or access cards
Shredding these materials requires a different machine than what’s used for paper, but the leading shredders handle it all. It’s better to think about the sensitivity of the information that needs destruction rather than the nature of the type of material it’s on. If the data is sensitive, it can be destroyed.
Look for a locally-owned company with years of experience large enough to handle all your needs under one roof while small enough to deliver personalized treatment and excellent customer service.
When people think of shredding, they likely imagine a machine tearing paper into ribbons. The reality is more complex, with companies eliminating any type of sensitive data securely and responsibly. Contact a local shredder near you to ensure your data doesn’t fall into the wrong hands, whether it’s in paper, electronic, or a different and more unusual form.