Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the United States. Most identity theft is done by going through company dumpsters. A strip shredder does not offer ample protection for businesses. Even when companies do use cut and rip shredders, they are still responsible for transporting the shredded remains to a recycling center to avoid having them sitting in the trash.

When companies simply tear up and throw away their documents, they put themselves at risk of someone retrieving and reading them. These documents often contain sensitive information such as company bank account details and client records that criminals can use to steal identities. Someone can break into a bank account or start using a credit card within minutes of stealing the information.

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.

Every business accumulates a lot of paperwork in the course of a day. There are different ways to destroy documents, but paper shredding is highly recommended. Unlike other methods of destroying papers, shredding completely destroys a document making it impossible to put back together. This deters the efforts of identity thieves who steal discarded documents, put them together and use them to carry out white collar crimes. Documents like statements, receipts and invoices contain enough information for such a person to be able to pull off fraud and siphon funds from people’s bank accounts and credit cards.

As a business owner or manager, you must be aware of the legal requirements to protect customer and employee records. It is also required by law that documents that contain financial information that can be used to steal identities and carry out white collar fraud are destroyed by shredding.

Document destruction is a critical practice for every modern business. From small start-up organizations to national corporations, every company generates thousands of documents each year. When you’re finished with your documents, you want to destroy them properly to ensure confidentiality of sensitive information. As you weigh varying document destruction options, you must decide whether you’d prefer on-site or off-site services.

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.

Protecting private customer and employee information is a critical aspect of running a modern business. Regardless of the size of your organization, you cannot risk having sensitive details about your clients or your employees get out to the public. A single security breach can compromise years of hard earned, good reputation. The last thing that you want is to have customers or employees going elsewhere because they can no longer trust you. Take the necessary precautions so that everyone’s information stays safe.

Document destruction is a key aspect of running a modern business. In an age where identity theft is an everyday occurrence, you can’t be too careful when it comes to protecting sensitive information. Many companies use ancient strip shredders and then dispose of the remains in the dumpsters right behind their office buildings, leaving themselves susceptible to thieves who can reassemble the documents in a matter of hours. You cannot afford to take this risk.

Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the United States. The majority of business identity theft happens in the dumpsters right on company premises. Not taking the right steps to destroy documents leaves a business susceptible to theft.