With data theft a daily threat, the need to protect yourself, business and customers is key. Most business owners don’t realize the wealth of information they are providing thieves by putting out the trash. ACCO Brands is changing that.
The terms data breach and theft typically conjure up images of a dark room filled with hackers working around the clock to steal credit card information and hack into company systems to steal financial and business data. Virtual data theft threats are well-known, but many small business owners don’t think twice about throwing away physical data whether it’s inventory lists, printed email addresses, hand-jotted notes on a spare piece of paper, or even seemingly innocent junk mail.
Dumpster Diving for Data Is Alive and Well
Thieves are taking full advantage of discarded information that business owners don’t give a second thought to by trolling the garbage, usually with great success.
According to Science Direct, dumpster diving or “trashing” for physical data is lucrative for thieves because of the wealth of information gained about an individual, business or customers just by rummaging through their garbage. Security experts suggest that business owners of any size, but especially home businesses, should think twice before throwing away any paper related to their business, even if it’s just a scrap of paper.
In his book No Tech Hacking: A Guide to Social Engineering, Dumpster Diving, and Shoulder Surfing, Author Johnny Long shares, “Dumpster diving is not only a threat to consumers but a threat to businesses and organizations. The average consumer discards hundreds of pounds of paper every year…businesses and organizations discard millions of tons of paper each year. This equates to about 175 pounds of paper per individual. All this paper, if not disposed of properly, serves as a treasure trove of information for those who dedicate their lives in exploiting the information which we discard.”
Businesses value their customers in many ways, but protecting their information and data is paramount to building trust and maintaining a good reputation. This is where General Binding Corporation (GBC) enters the picture. GBC has a long and storied history of meeting customers’ needs beginning in 1947 when founder William N. Lane, and two business partners helped Chicago printers find a faster, more reliable way to bind and laminate. After merging with ACCO Brands in 2005, GBC became part of the world’s largest supplier of branded office products. The company saw a persistent need for physical data protection and security; as a result, they have relaunched their ShredMaster series of shredders. The new line includes 11 unique versions, all with powerful engines, but most importantly numerous shred size options including cross cut, confidential super crosscut, and a high-security micro-cut for the strictest of security requirements.
In the book, Cyber Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Defense, author Robert Shimonski says, “Cross cut shredders were created because it was proven that a bag of shredded paper that came from a normal straight cut shredder could be reassembled given enough time.” Shimonski goes on to say, “We gleefully assume that because we put something in the trash, it is dutifully removed from the premise and destroyed adequately. If only that was the truth. Your trash can easily be recovered and used to gather information. Disk drives can be thrown out, and even if you attempted to destroy them, can be reassembled and/or fixed enough to get data off them. There are many secrets that can be uncovered in the trash; you should consider that next time before you throw something away.”
An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure
The financial and time expenses of dealing with identity theft on a personal and business level can be astronomical. Every day, thousands of individuals and business owners are dealing with identity theft and the fallout to survive it. Editors at Home Business Magazine suggest 5 Ways to Protect Your Identity and one is to treat paper and mail that comes to your office seriously, “Some people have the tendency to intentionally ignore mail in the mailbox and other paperwork delivered to their door. These letters may contain vital personal and financial information about you and not handling them properly gives criminals the opportunity to sneak in and steal your data.”
This issue is so rampant the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has put together a document of what to save and what to shred. Below is a list of the documents that you should shred to prevent identity theft.
- Financial: Receipts and packing invoices from deliveries should be included.
- Personal: Any type of bill including cell phone or utilities, canceled checks, and any store or purchase receipt should be shredded.
- Junk Mail: Most ignore this, but junk mail has a wealth of information including preapproval for credit and bar codes on the envelopes that contains personal data.
- Child/School Related: Thieves don’t care about age; a social security number is gold, so shred anything related to your children, including medical or school information.
California Data Protection Law Goes into Effect in 2020
“It’s also important to know that a new data protection law goes into effect in 2020,” shares Boris Elisman, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of ACCO Brands. “With the groundbreaking California Consumer Privacy Act going into effect January 1, 2020, which we know will have national and likely global impact, it’s the right time to invest in a quality GBC Shredmaster shredder to become compliant with the new regulation.”
The privacy law will change how data is collected and handled, and allows users to demand permanent deletion of their personal data. Much of this data is online, but the threat of data being stolen from paper sources is very real and can be overlooked. Shredders are an effective answer to physical data security and meeting compliance requirements for businesses and third parties.
For more information on ShredMaster products, please visit the GBC website. ShredMaster shredders are currently available for purchase on Amazon.
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