Monthly Archives: February 2016

Paper Shredding Dublin (Data Processing Service)

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Data Destruction (Dublin Area)

Shredding documents In Dublin as part of industrial paper shredding method for your business is now must be implemented under the data protection act.

All businesses are and if not they should be aware of their responsibility to segregate and dispose of their general waste and recycling. These rules have been established under the Irish Waste Management Act 2001 which can be viewed at; https://www.environ.ie/en/Environment/Waste/WasteMgmtActs/.

Within this Act it is essential for all Organisations to use a waste processing firm that is reputable and has the required certifications from their relevant County Council and in turn the client has full traceability of their waste materials.

When dealing with sensitive paper data that has reached its end of life hiring any Dublin paper shredding service may not be sufficient and may not achieve full compliance. Cost should never be the determining factor when hiring a Dublin document shredding service, the cheapest may not achieve compliance and it is compliance that is required by Organisations to achieve in order to protect their data and their public image.

As detailed above waste recyclers are also known as material processors, similarly companies that offer data destruction services are not only waste processors but they are Data Processors. It is this title of “Data Processor” that drastically differentiates a recycling firm from a Data Processing Firm. It is The Data Protection Acts that recognise Data Processors and Data Controllers and if a data breach occurred and it was found that for example the Dublin paper shredding firm was not a data processing firm they may argue that the Data Protection Acts do not apply to them as they were simply processing material not data. It is important for all Organisation to be aware of this point as they may be receiving a Dublin materials shredding service at a more attractive cost however, they are not receiving a fully compliance and data protecting service. The following applies to many industries and services; “The cheapest is not always the best”.

 

Questions to ensure that your Dublin Paper shredding vendor is a Data Processor;

  • Is your Organisation a member of an Industry Representation Body in Ireland?

Required Ans;  Yes

 

  • Does your Dublin Document Shredding Company process various recyclable material on the same site as the paper shredding?

Required Ans;  No

 

  • Does your Dublin Paper Shredding Company ship various material to the recycling market other than data carrying materials (e.g. Cardboard, plastics)?

Required Ans;  No

 

  • Is your Company Certified from an Independent Body in Ireland for European Security Standard EN 15713 and not “Self-Certified”?

Required Ans;  Yes, we are certified by an independent body in Ireland.

 

  • Is your Dublin Paper Shredding Company listed on The Data Protection Commissioner’s Public Register of Data Processors? Can you give me your reference No.?

Required Ans;  Yes, we are and you can see us on the list if you visit www.dataprotection.ie  

 

  • Do you use Data Processing Agreements?

Required Ans;  Yes

Methods Aimed To Prevent A Data Breach Within An Organisation

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secure data, data security, document destruction

Along with a onsite paper destruction service, businesses on-line and electronic data can be vulnerable to a data breach if not adequately protected.

A data breach can occur from a small genuine mistake to a significant planned breach. In this article we will discuss methods any Organisation can take to help prevent a data breach occurring and in turn minimise the risks of experiencing negative public image and damaging press.

  • Training: All employees that handle sensitive documents and/or have control over/access to sensitive digital data should be trained appropriately. All employees should be made aware of the applicable Data Protection Act principles both at an Irish level and a European Level.  External obligation through legislation is important for all employees to be informed of however internal policies must be drawn up and communicated to all staff members.
  • Risk Assessment: All Organisations should conduct a risk assessment of their IT systems which in turn will help them to identify security threats and improve upon potential weaknesses.
  • Penetration Protection: Up to date anti malware software should be used to detect potential damaging malware on employee work devices. Periodic reviews should be complete to ensure that firewalls will defend against malware.
  • Encryption: All data inclusive of static data on external storage devices and data in motion which is data being sent between two separate devices should be encrypted. Encryption If information or devices are stolen; thieves will not be able to access the sensitive information.
  • Monitoring: We advise that employees should physically protect both electronic devices and paper records in their possession that contains sensitive data. While a Clean Desk Policy can help, it is sometimes difficult for an Organisation to ensure that employees keep their desk clean.
  • Control Access: Different members of an Organisation will need to access sensitive information at different times. Employees at each level should only have access to information that is relevant and required to their job. A secure ID system should be implemented within your Organisation that will only allow specific employees access to specific information whether it be on a device or on a paper record.

Physical Safeguards: Limit physical access to facilities where Company IT is housed. All hard drives and e-media should be securely destroyed in line with EN 15713 through a Data Processing firm when they are being replaced and/or updated. All organisation should partner with a document destruction expert that provides secure onsite paper shredding Dublin and secure offsite paper shredding Dublin. These data processing firms should have the capability to securely destroy both physical data held in paper format and digital data held on old hard-drives and data cartridges.

For more information please Email us : info@securityinshredding.com

Importance of Paper Shredding Dublin for Business

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Importance of Paper Shredding for Dublin

All businesses in Dublin and the surrounding regions will produce confidential paper from their daily activities. This paper may vary in kind, content, life cycle and legislative responsibility however, the risk will remain with your Organisation.

Within the general waste and recycling industry there is a “producer pays” slogan which means that the producer of the waste has the responsibility to dispose of the waste, in a Data Protection context it is similar where the Data Controller has full responsibility over the material and how it is destroyed through a shredding service and how it is to be disposed of once it has completed the document shredding process.

Whether it be onsite paper shredding Dublin and/or offsite paper shredding Dublin a professional service should be implemented in all organisations within all industries to minimise and eliminate where possible the risks of a data breach.

Document shredding Dublin is not the only method for Organisation to ensure compliance with the Law, there are also Nationwide paper shredding companies that can provide shredding services to clients right across the Island of Ireland.

History has taught us great lessons in the importance of Data Protection for businesses. We have seen companies lose thousands of Euros, destroy their trust with customers and in some cases go into receivership due to negligence with the management of data.

All it takes is one mistake for sensitive data to end up in the wrong hands which can be detrimental for your Business and the future of your business. With the aid of experienced well trained data processing professionals an annual costing can be calculated in order for your Organisation to implement a professional paper shredding Dublin service that in turn will protect your business going into the future.

Fraud has been and still is the fastest growing crime in Ireland and Globally and with this in mind it is essential for you and your Organisation to implement a professional Document Shredding Dublin service and make certain that you are abiding by the law surrounding your documents.

If you require any information upon any of the above, please contact www.securityinshredding.com and the compliance team will aid you in your query.

Or Email us : info@securityinshredding.com

Dublin Paper Shredding – What to Keep and What to Shred

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confidential shredding, Confidential Shredding Dublin

A secure document shredding services are available in the Dublin area. On site paper destruction is available to meet to your shredding needs.

Irish Businesses are required to comply with many levels of legal procedures in order to operate. From protecting personal data such as confidential client and employee details right through to safeguarding sensitive company information in addition to abiding by individual sector regulations. Failure to comply at any level can incur severe criminal and damage a companies reputation.

It may be the end of the annual year or the end of an accounting Year but all Organisation need to go through their archives, office files and offsite storage files to decide upon what is legally required to be kept and what can be passed to go through their paper shredding Dublin service.

The best and most appropriate method for any Organisation to differentiate their material from that that can be shredded vs that that should not be shredded is to separate the material into its respective generation timelines.

When we mention respective generation timelines for sensitive paper we are talking about material that is generated in the following;

  • Daily generation
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • After seven years

Daily generation;

Most Organisations will have some form of paper that is generated on a daily basis. This is one of the highest risk sources of a data breach occurring within an Organisation as staff throughout your Organisation may leave waste paper into general recycling or any other place where fraudulent people may get access to it.

The daily generated material is not required for Organisations to satisfy tax requirements and it is normally not relevant for audit purposes and it is for this reason that daily generated paper should enter your Dublin paper shredding service immediately. Examples of this material would be memos, internal emails and CV’s.

Monthly generation;

On a monthly basis it is advisable for Organisations to reconcile all transactions and clear out any paper that may be building up within temporary storage solutions. One it has been confirmed that all of the documentation is no longer required for tax purposes it is advised that Companies should shred the material through a Dublin document shredding service. Examples of these documents would be Route plans, meeting agendas, performance targets, credit card details and bank transaction documents.

Yearly/Annual generation;

This is the material that is required to be kept for a minimum of one year. Materials such as unsuccessful CV candidates (unless there may be legal action). It is important to at all times be vigilant of what Revenue requires to be kept for tax purposes in addition to what your own business may need in terms of long term expenses and business activities.

Discard after seven years;

In Ireland Companies have a legal requirement to retain certain documents for up to seven years. Once these sensitive documents have reached their seven-year period a Company can choose to have the material destroyed. It is advisable that this task should be an annual task as you will be capable of maximising your accuracy in the destruction process, maximise your success within an audit situation, maximise your storage space, minimise your storage costs and eliminates the detrimental build-up of old documents.

Examples of these documents would be; Invoices, Accounting records, company transactions, tax payments, VAT records.

For further information, relating to document retentions please visit; https://www.revenue.ie/en/business/running/keeping-records-revenue-audit.html and/or visit www.securityinshredding.com/ and our compliance team will help you with your query.

Alternatively Email us at: info@securityinshredding.com

5 things to check when hiring a confidential shredding service

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Security in Shredding Data Protection Law

Industrial paper shredding is part of everyday business and looking for a professional onsite shredding service and/or offsite shredding service provider that offers:

  • An offsite destruction service that has a “Same day shred” policy and will not store your material prior to destroying it. Ensure that he vendor can provide onsite shredding services up to and including the different shred sizes of EN 15713
  • Ensure that the confidential shredding service vendor has certification for shred size No. 3 right up to shred No. 6 of EN 15713. This will illustrate that the vendor has the technology to securely destroy data beyond reconstruction.
  • Secure storage options for confidential data awaiting to be entered into the secure confidential shredding process, including locked security consoles
  • Modern shredding technologies that can quickly destroy large volumes of paper, achieving a particle shred that also have the functionality to allow the client to witness the destruction process if required.
  • A Certificate of destruction or preferably a Data Processing Certificate issued only by data processing firms.

For more information visit www.securityinshredding.com or email us at: info@securityinshredding.com

 

5 Reasons In Ireland To Employ An Onsite Confidential Shredding Service

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Security in Shredding Data protection & destruction

A confidential shredding service is vital for the success of business. on site paper destruction and or off site document shredding can be availed from a reputable shredding service.

In today’s ever advancing technology arena it is essential for Organisations to be aware of their responsibility for the confidential shredding of their waste paper data. Many Companies globally are aware of the risks associated with not destroying confidential information in line with legislation and many will have a detailed shredding policy in place to mitigate this risk.

This policy may be an in-house confidential shredding service or an outsourced confidential shredding service Ireland. Completing this duty in-house has proved to cause more problems and increase risks upon a given Organisation. Many management people feel that an in-house system is more cost effective however in the overall picture of the situation an in-house system may not at all be the best option when deciding upon the best confidential shredding service to implement.

  1. Office shredders producing strip shreds are NOT secure!!

The general office shredder design will cut the waste paper data into vertical strips which has been proven not to be secure and not meet international security standards. When deciding upon creating a confidential paper shredding policy it is essential to be aware that it should be a cross cut shredding technology that is used and for high security material it should be a double cross cut shredding technology that in turn will create a particle shred that is complaint up to shred No. 6 of the security standard EN 15713. In English terms this translates to ensuring that the data is destroyed beyond reconstruction which a professional confidential shredding Ireland vendor will certify for. A generic 15.5 mm cross cut shredder may be reconstructed with the aid of technology.

2. Shredding by hand wastes time

Daily business activity can amount to kilos of waste paper data being generated every day. As days go by and the kilos compound to become bigger volumes a hand fed shredder simply is not a time efficient method. Taking care of your shredding in-house can be time-consuming and a waste of staff resources, skills ad this is amplified if the company is large. It will take a professional paper shredding Ireland company a fraction of the time to securely shred the same amount of documents and due to the capacity of the shredder.

3.  In-house shredding does not mean compliance

Proof of destruction through a data processing confidential shredding service vendor is essential in illustrating the client’s compliance with the law both from a Data Protection point of view and a waste management point of view. This is not possible officially with an in-house company shredder as there are no certifications available to illustrate your compliance.

4. Storage constraints

When you produce sensitive data that needs to be destroyed you are legally obliged to ensure that the data is keep safe and secure. This results in controlled access, time logged transportation and secure receptacles holding the material just to name a few. Unless an organisation wishes to make the huge investment in acquiring receptacles in many cases it may not be viable for them to put in the required safety precautions. It is important that your paper shredding Ireland vendor will provide you with the required security receptacles to ensure your compliance with the law.

5. Reliability Issues

All business will produce high volumes of waste paper data and generic office shredders are not designed to handle high volumes efficiently. The unreliability of office shredder mean that contingencies are constantly required in this situation which in many cases simply are not financially viable to do. A professional confidential shredding service vendor will use technology that will not break down due to volume constraints and the technology can easily handle the staples, clips and archive folders that all waste paper data contains.

For all questions relating to shred sizes and destroying data beyond reconstruction please visit www.securityinshredding.com.

5 Reasons For Companies To Have A Shredding Service In Place

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Paper Shredding, Office shredder NOT a secure way to destroy documents.

Data Security and Data Protection are imperative for industrial paper shredding services to operate and for the customer they provide for. These shredding specialists must maintain this security and the potential breaches that can occur.

1) Security concerns with strip shredders
The vertical strip shredding technologies have been proved not to securely destroy your data beyond reconstruction. Just as communication technology has truly advanced significantly, data reconstruction technology has also come a long way since the introduction of the office paper shredder. These reconstruction capabilities have increased the need for Organisation to avail of a paper shredding Ireland service.

The professional onsite confidential shredding service vendors use cross cut shredding technology that is virtually impossible to reconstruct. The more secure shredding vendors that are registered with The Data Protection Commissioner and are Data Processors will use a double cross cut technology that creates a particle shred that is impossible to reconstruct currently.

2) Time availability
Time within all working environments is essential to be managed closely and efficiently with good time management practices in order to keep the positive developments happening within the Organisation and perform well against competition.

It has been researched and estimated that it takes an employee an average of five hours to securely shred twenty-three kilos of sensitive paper material and the risks of a data breach is at its highest.

A confidential shredding service is about risk minimisation and having employees complete the confidential shredding service in-house is high risk as there are issues relating to confidentiality, health and safety, efficiency and training just to name a few. How much will an Organisation No.1; pay that given employee for those five hours and No. 2; what financial losses are being made by that given employee not carrying out other core productive duties for the Organisation.

3) High risk

Not all paper data is simply sheet of paper. Much of the paper data may be in folders, boxes, files, clip boards and staples to name just a few. Through the professional confidential shredding service, you will receive a shredding service that utilises specialist technologies that in turn can securely destroy all forms of paper data inclusive of the above listed items.

Many office shredders cannot shred staples or multiple pages simultaneously which turns a what should be fast and efficient job into a long and tedious task. This makes the task become a high risk task for an Organisation as you are wholly dependent on your employee’s patience threshold. Not only will it be a higher expense on an Organisation with employee time required it also means shredding is put to the bottom of the “to-do” list and potentially sensitive documents are left unsecured and possibly enter general recycling.

4) In-house shredding will not make you compliant
In the event of a data breach or privacy violation, it is likely that your business will receive and confidential shredding service audit and will be asked to provide proof that the information was securely destroyed. By using an in-house office shredder, this simply isn’t possible but a credible third party should always issue a Data Processing Certificate which certifies that all of the data was destroyed and recycled in line with European Legislation.

5) Not only people have memory, machines do also
If your Organisation’s data shredding is delegated to the office junior which results in sensitive data and confidential information being passed through their hands you are leaving your Organisation at high risk. The same applies every time that you send data to be printed, scanned and photocopied; all of this sensitive data is passing through the memory of the given device and it is essential (and many forget) to securely destroy all data carriers such as hard drives, SDD cards and USB keys when upgrading a computer system.

A confidential shredding service Ireland is the only way to guarantee total destruction of your digital data. Yes, there are other methods of “wiping” hard-drive which simply puts that hard drive in an atmosphere where magnetic pulses and pulsed at the unit and in turn the data is “corrupted” however the data is still on the drive and that is the simple reason why people selling those kinds of confidential data destruction services will not and cannot guarantee destruction.

Visit www.securityinshredding.com for more information.

5 reasons for firms to hire services for paper shredding Ireland

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Security In Shredding on site service

Onsite shredding service

If you are not aware of the importance of confidential shredding your paper documents, you should visit onsite shredding Ireland to find out more information.

If you do shred your paper documents that have reached the end of their life, then you are already aware of the importance in protecting the private information produced within your business relating to employees and customers. One point that may not be well known by all is that there are huge advantages when outsourcing you confidential shredding to a local and/or national confidential paper shredding service vendor.

  1. Time saving

If you are in a situation where your confidential shredding requirements are going to take up a whole evening, a whole week or possibly being left on the long finger due to the nature of the daunting task then you have a strong indicator that outsourcing your confidential shredding requirements to a professional shredding service vendor will benefit your business and the bottom-line of your business.

A mobile on-site paper shredding service company that comes to your business saves you the time from a transportation point of view in addition to a risk management point of view. A professional and trained document security technician will be able to securely shred all your documents within minutes using state-of-the art shredding equipment through their confidential paper shredding service Ireland.

  1. Increased security

When shredding in-house there is little to no accountability and the given Organisation are unable to prove compliance with Legislation when in an audit situation. When you outsource your confidential shredding you are placing accountability on the professionals who are specifically trained to provide compliant confidential shredding services Ireland.  This adds to the security of you document management system which in turn will certify destruction of the data. It is important that your confidential shredding service vendor is a data processing firm and not a general recycling firm as the Data Protection Legislation directly applies to the data processing firm and general recycling firms may cause issues in accountability. The technology utilised by professional confidential shredding Ireland vendors are far more secure than your average office shredder and have the capability to destroy high volumes of material inclusive of folders, staples, boxes and more.

  1. Locked bins

Within the legislation there are specific requirements for the storage of the material awaiting destruction. If material is left in an unsecure area, in unsecure bins and with unlimited people accessing it you are in turn in breach of your data protection obligations. These professional confidential shredding service vendors will provide you with these secure bins as part of the service with no need for the client to make the investment into the storage capacity again ensuring compliance with the law.

  1. Boost in your efficiency

Outsourcing your onsite confidential shredding service and/or offsite confidential shredding service boosts efficiency by:

  • increasing employee productivity rates
  • eliminating maintenance costs
  • reducing training costs
  • improving cost-effectiveness
  1. Shredded paper is recycled

In line with The European Waste Hierarchy all material that is destroyed through a complaint and professional confidential paper shredding service vendor is recycled where possible and will return to Ireland as egg cartons and cardboard. The secure destruction of 1 ton of paper whether it be through an onsite paper shredding service and/or an offsite paper shredding service will save the equivalent of 17 fully grown trees.

Let’s continue with the great work.

 

 

5 Reasons To Implement A Confidential Shredding Service

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confidential shredding, document destruction

A reputable confidential paper shredding services available in Cork and Limerick will provide your business with either on site document shredding or off site document shredding depending on which suits your business more.

Today, virtually every business collects and maintains sensitive information. When information that is collected relates to a human being it is known as personal sensitive information and in turn both Irish and European Data Protection Laws are applicable. Within these laws there are specific methodologies for Organisations and individuals to abide by when they are; collecting sensitive data, storing sensitive data and securely destroying the sensitive data through services for confidential shredding Ireland.

Many businesses are evolving to store the majority of their data electronically whether it be in a secure onsite storage device or an offsite “cloud” solution vendor which is a data storage service through the internet.

Even with the shift in actions from organisations in storing their confidential data in the “cloud” many businesses store and produce physical data on paper files daily. When speaking about electronic storage of data and physical storage of data in paper files we cannot forget to include the paper that is generated on a daily basis through daily working activities. This paper is also confidential in nature and as the data protection legislation applies it requires to be destroyed through a confidential shredding service. Daily data generation examples would be; memo’s, wages slips, pricing quotations, correspondence, meeting minutes and strategy plans just to name a few.

Reasons to destroy your confidential data that is generated in your business;

  1. Prevent identity theft

All organisation need to illustrate full competence in managing their sensitive data. In order to protect their employees, their customers, and their business, it is imperative that you confidentially shred all of your documents when they’re no longer needed either through an in-house confidential shredding service or an onsite confidential paper shredding service provided through an expert Organisation that has all of the required certifications.

  1. Protect your customers

It takes months to get a new customer however, it truly only takes seconds to lose a good customer. It is beyond imaginable that any Organisation could put the personal information belonging to their customers at risk of a data breach through not having detailed procedures for confidential shredding of the data, training programs for staff and shredding services in place.

  1. It is the law

Legislation on a global level is becoming more and more detailed and monitored and rightly so. New Data Protection Legislation that is a regulation and not a directive is coming into force in Europe which will supersede the current legislation. This regulation is placing further emphasis on the protection of personal sensitive data and it is amplifying the requirement of Organisations to ensure that they have a confidential paper shredding service in place.

  1. Protect your employees

Many famous and well respected entrepreneurs will tell you that you that if you look after your employees the employees will look after the customers, in addition to the employee being the life blood of an Organisation and this point is right along those lines. Employees know and are learning more about their legal right to privacy in today’s world. It is expected that an employee will keep their personal information safe and secure and when required the data will be destroyed through an onsite shredding service or an offsite shredding service.

All old outdated employee information from wage information to ID badges are require to be protected and securely destroyed. If an Organisation is placing this sensitive information into general recycling streams they are failing both themselves and their employee under the Data Protection Legislation.  The secure and professional destruction of this information through a confidential shredding service is safe, efficient and compliant method of protecting your data.

  1. Space maximisation

When there is no clear and concise system in place to manage the confidential shredding requirements you will be amazed at the rate of which the paper data is generated and accumulates. If you have paper building up in your offices, you are wasting high valued “real estate” and you should consider the implementation of a confidential paper shredding Ireland Service and you will create space that is required for your future business activities.

For further information, please contact Security in Shredding by visiting; www.securityinshredding.com

Email us at: info@securityinshredding.com

Twitter Data Security & Data Protection

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Secure Harddrive Destruction, Twitter calling for increased Data Protection

Protecting your data both digitally and physically can be done by incorporating a confidential shredding services are available in Cork & Limerick to help benefit your businesses data protection.

Data Security & Social Media

Twitter, Google, Facebook and other heads of cyber security such as Dropbox and a senior researcher in networking and security at UC Berkeley are discussing future methods of cyber security for their business at a sponsored event.

Twitter’s security chief has said “Users should not have to petition companies to implement security or fix egregious vulnerabilities.” The discussion continues and mentions how companies should be required to encrypt data and maintain applications and any security holes within reason.

With current technology and more and more people using mobile devices. Your device has sensors and could pick up or spread malicious software and infect unprotected software. An emphasis towards on-line security is needed and putting the research in to marketable ideas.

Protecting your business and personal information

Your on-line activity and the information you share can be viewed by the public if certain measures are not in place to protect sensitive information. The Data protection act 1998 and 2003 is an integral importance to all organisations today. There are 8 main rules for organisations. For more information visit www.securtiyinshredding.com and download out information leaflet.

Any business that stores a person’s details on electronically and especially sensitive data like card details, this data needs proper security/ encryption. Ensuring this data is protected correctly, maintain and update your site regularly. Sensitive data is correctly protected. There are a number of methods for obtaining data from a database. Some hacking methods cannot be avoided and data can be retrieved but as long as the sensitive data is encrypted then the data is useless to the hacker. Once data is encrypted the data can only be viewed by an admin.

There are a number of steps you can take to ensure that the data you possess is being stored and protected correctly. Data destruction is now as important as Data protection. Having a licensed shredding service securely destroy documents and  hard-dives will help protect you and your customers. There are shredding services available to cater for your needs.

Improving on-line security and visibility

As most security issues can be human error. With mobile devices widely available, people often forget to secure there phone correctly. Following these steps below can help you improve your on-line security.

  1. A proper anti-virus software with firewall protection on all electronic devices.(desktop, laptop, mobile)
  2. Enabling a two step verification login.
  3. Be aware of what information sites show publicly as each site is different.
  4. That sensitive data is encrypted with the latest encryption method.
  5. Report suspicious behaviour to your own and site you use as they may not be aware of the issue until someone tells them.
  6. Use a secure password, “123456” and “password” are NOT secure passwords and are surprisingly used more often than you think.

For more information on Data destruction and confidential document destruction visit www.securityinshredding.com/ for further details.

Email us at : info@securityinshredding.com