It’s the start of a new year and you are likely preparing your business for many things. One thing you should consider is document purging, also known as shredding. This is something every employee can and should partake in, especially if there are documents piled up. There are few ways you can get rid of records and files, including document management and shredding.

Documents and media material that contain sensitive or confidential information must be destroyed when they are no longer needed. This privacy law is enforced by FACTA and HIPPA and protects individual and business security. Shredding these documents is the safest and surest method of total destruction. When you need to destroy your sensitive papers, there are several options you can use.

Keeping your confidential information safe is now a priority. With the sophisticated methods used by hackers and criminals, keeping your valuable numbers, passwords, programs or any other sensitive material out of the wrong hands is essential. There are companies that can destroy these sensitive materials which comply with laws set up regarding their performance. However, many still believe the myths about shredding without knowing the facts. The following are four common myths about hard drive and document destruction that you should be aware of.

Shredding your personal information and that of your clients or customers is not only vital, but it’s also the law. Tearing up papers or thinking you’ve erased data from a device and then tossing them in your garbage won’t stop criminals from finding the information they shouldn’t have.

In today’s world, it is necessary to shred sensitive material. Any document with confidential information must be destroyed to stay out of the hands of criminals. The question is how to determine which papers to destroy and how to shred them? The best solution is to implement a shred-all policy.

Many businesses assume that deleting sensitive files is enough to keep confidential information safe. Digital files are just as vulnerable, if not more vulnerable, than paper files and must be disposed of properly.

Many people assume that erasing data from a hard drive deletes it forever. However, unless you fully format a hard drive or external drive, these files remain in some form. A criminal doesn’t have to have a lot of hacking experience to get at these files and do an enormous amount of damage in a matter of minutes.

With identity fraud targeting a new victim every two seconds, document destruction is more important than ever. Modern organizations cannot set up a crosscut shredder in the break room and assume they are protected. From phone messages to tax forms to hard drives, companies have a wealth of sensitive information that must be disposed of properly. If confidential data gets into the wrong hands, the consequences can be detrimental. You don’t want to compromise the success of your business by leaving the company susceptible to identity theft.

Once upon a time, businesses could keep up with shredding tasks and dispose of the remains in the dumpsters behind their buildings without giving security a second thought.