Does your office have open paper recycling bins? Recycling bins are fundamental sources of white-collar crimes. Office documents contain vital information which third-parties could use for data breaching. This post will highlight some of the best practices of document destruction.
1. Shred everything on a regular schedule
This practice is essential. Adapting a 'shred all' policy eliminates the poor judgement risk on what you should shred. It also reduces the piling of confidential papers in the office. To implement the 'shred all' policy, you have to train your employees on safe document destruction practices. You should also assess the security of the information to evaluate possible vulnerabilities and risks in your office. Shredding all documents ensures there are no unintentional or intentional leaks.
2. Shred before you recycle
Although dropping the documents in your recycle bin is friendly to the environment, it is not a security-conscious move. Keep in mind that trash is not private and malicious people can use the documents to bring your company to its knees. You should refrain from tossing away sensitive documents like pricing data, customer lists and trade secrets to your recycle bin. You should also shred documents which might help your competition. If you want to be eco-friendly in the paperwork destruction, then you should seek reliable, professional help.
3. Follow your disposition schedules
Although regular shredding of non-important documents is crucial for information security, you should only destroy documents when you no longer need them. Dispose documents with a historical and legal value according to their disposition schedules. If you destroy them too late or too soon it could lead to non-compliance problems. Consult your attorney to aid you in determining the requirements of administrative, legislative and regulatory documents disposition which apply to your organisation.
4. Use a trustworthy and certified shredding service
When you implement the above policies, you will achieve total information security of all major players of the business. Although you might assume that hiring a shredding service is expensive, you should also know that lawsuits are more expensive. Moreover, there are various destruction alternatives for both small and big-scale businesses. Creating a partnership with experts of paperwork destruction will boost the security of the company's private data.
Wrapping it up
There is a lot of sensitive information in your office. Being conscious of this information and knowing where to find it takes you a step closer to securing company information. You should also take a greener approach when destroying proprietary information. This action will ensure your organization remains secure and compliant.
Share30 September 2019
Hello, my name is Steve and this is my recycling blog. Up until last year, I presumed that recycling was just to do with putting plastic and glass into different bins from your general waste. However, when I bought a secondhand industrial unit, I discovered large amounts of metal which had been abandoned by the previous owner. I wasn't sure what to do but my friend suggested I take it to a specialist scrap yard so it could be recycled. The guys at the recycling yard were really friendly and explained how they take all kinds of different metals and recycle them for future use. I hope you enjoy my blog.
