Are Your Company's Document Destruction Methods As Secure As They Should Be?

The Stasi was the much-feared state security agency of East Germany. In addition to their official operatives monitoring the population of the now-defunct state, the agency had countless informants working for them who were all regular citizens reporting on their family, friends, and neighbours. When the Berlin Wall came down, East Germany's number was up, and the country would soon cease to exist, becoming incorporated into West Germany (a process known as German reunification) to form today's Federal Republic of Germany. Shortly after the Wall fell, citizens began to congregate at the Stasi HQ in East Berlin, demanding that the Stasi cease the frantic destruction of their countless files. Some were shredded, others burned, and some were torn by hand. In the subsequent years, many of these papers have been painstakingly reassembled, like putting together a jigsaw puzzle. With a huge amount of diligence and some advanced technical support, it seems that any shredded document could conceivably be reassembled. While your company might not need to destroy the surveillance files of private citizens, you shred certain documents for a reason. How safe are your document destruction methods?

Sensitive Data

There are some pertinent and obvious reasons for document destruction. The documents can contain privileged corporate information, as well as potentially compromising private customer information, containing their personal and financial details. Is a straightforward shredding of these documents enough?

Traditional Shredding

Although someone inclined to reconstruct a shredded document will presumably lack the resources of the Stasi recovery project, it can still be done with the right amount of patience. Strips of a shredded document can slowly be reunited to the point that the information is visible once again. It's unlikely, but it's possible. Depending on the sensitivity of the information you wish to destroy, even this slight possibility might be too much.

Secure Shredding

It can be as straightforward as upgrading your document destruction equipment. A crosscut shredder obliterates a document, reducing it to something that resembles confetti, meaning that even the most dedicated individual couldn't reassemble it. The resulting scraps of paper can then be recycled.

Outsourcing

When large quantities of documents need to be destroyed, you could opt to outsource the process. A professional company will securely collect and destroy the documents in question, which can then be recycled (or incinerated in the case of particularly sensitive documents).

If you're only shredding documents using a traditional shredder, it might be time to upgrade your document destruction methods.