Shredding services offer a professional and timely options, so you can get back to the fun-and profitable –elements of your business. Have you taken a look inside your trash can recently? Chances are, you might find something that could put your business in violation of federal law or yourself at risk of identity theft. Did you know that businesses operating in the U.S. are required by the government (known as 2003 FACTA law) to dispose of sensitive financial documents in a way that protects against "unauthorized access to or use of the information?" What many home based business owners might not realize is that this law applies to businesses of all sizes—and includes fines of up to $2500 for noncompliance. Your home business might already be protecting itself from online identity theft with the latest firewalls and anti-virus software, but you could be overlooking another form of identity theft often overshadowed by digital dangers, but one that’s no less a threat to your business’s information.

A recent study sponsored by The Center for Identity Management and Information Protection at Utica College reveals that the internet is involved in only 50 percent of identity theft crimes. The other 50 percent of personal data thefts occur in offline ways, such as dumpster diving or mail theft.

Generally, most companies that have recognized the importance of document destruction utilize small shredders or hire a professional service to do the shredding for them. In many cases, a professional shredding service is safer and more economical option, even for many home businesses.

Shredding services operate with sophisticated equipment that allows documents and even disks and hard drives to be shredded. In fact, professional equipment can shred so quickly that an entire file box can be destroyed in a matter of seconds. You’ll no longer need to spend valuable time shredding your documents instead of focusing on your primary, profitable business responsibilities.

HOW TO CHOOSE A SHREDDING SERVICE
Consider a visit to the shredding facility to monitor the security steps the company takes. These include immediately destroying documents when received and protecting documents from exposure to individuals not affiliated with the shredding company. Another highly effective way to ensure documents are destroyed in a secure manner is to hire a mobile shredding service. This enables you to witness the entire shredding process in real-time and leaves little to no room for error.

Home businesses should also create a formal information-protection plan. This plan should contain details on how to handle various types of confidential information, whether it is printed, electronic, or stored in discs.

THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN CREATING YOUR INFORMATION-PROTECTION PLAN

• Distribute locked paper-recycling containers throughout the office and hiring a local mobile shredding service on a regular basis to provide secure, on-site shredding.
• Install the best possible firewall and antivirus software on all servers and computers and running it daily.
• Develop safety precautions to keep laptops safe, perhaps equipping laptops with fingerprint readers to safeguard data.
• Don’t give away or sell old computers. Even if you have deleted the hard drive, savvy computer hackers will be able to recover some, if not much, of the data. Computers  hard drives should also be shredded and recycled.

About the author:
Joe Roberto is Vice President of Sales and Marketing for shred-tech. Shred-tech is a world leader I the design and manufacturing of mobile and plant based document destruction and recycling systems. For more information about Shred-tech, visit www.shred-tech.com.

Roberto, Joe. (2008). “PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS [AND YOUR CLIENTS] FROM IDENTITY FRAUD”. Simply Home, July/August.

http://simplyhome.idigitaledition.com/issues/julyaugust2008/