Shredding: It’s Not Just for Paper
In the Beginning
The need for shredding began with paper. In the 1930s, Adolf Ehinger engineered the first paper shredder in Germany. The purpose was to destroy his anti-Nazi propaganda in order to avoid being caught by the authorities. Unlike today, where we shred for legal and privacy reasons, Ehinger shredded to preserve his life.
The Evolution of Shredding
Whether in the 1930s or in 2023, the desired result of paper shredding remains the same. Shredding is designed to protect information from unauthorized use.
Over the years, shredding has expanded beyond paper. Various other items should also be destroyed by a specialty shredding service to render them unusable by ill-intentioned individuals or entities.
Hard Drives and Other Storage Media
Hackers possess the prowess to retrieve data from old discarded hard drives or hard drives that are no longer in use. Simply deleting data from a hard drive, SSD, USB drive, mobile phone, or other data storage device will not guarantee that all information has been removed. The best way to safeguard your data from hackers is physical destruction. A hard drive shredding service provides the equipment and expertise to properly shred hard drives and thus permanently destroy the data.
Smaller devices such as CDs, tapes, floppy disks, X-rays, and USB drives are often overlooked, yet can also contain sensitive information. There may be a temptation to toss this media in the trash, but this is not advised. These small devices have the capacity to store large sums of data, posing a significant risk for a data breach. Shredding this storage media is the best disposal solution.
Branded Products
Shredding branded products may not be something you have considered, but these products can pose troubling risks, including legal liability and damage to your business reputation. If your business has clothing, ID cards, awards, items with logos, sales brochures, or anything else that could be misused, they should be destroyed.
To help mitigate corporate risk, staff members should return all branded clothing and equipment prior to leaving the company. These discarded items should never be stored, sold, or given away. Consider having all damaged, recalled, or unused products destroyed by a professional shredding company.
ShredLink provides secure paper shredding, hard drive and media destruction, as well as specialty shredding services throughout southeast Louisiana. To protect your valuable information and your hard-earned reputation, contact us today at 504-885-0186 or complete the form on this page for assistance.