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| P2P Magaz i ne | Autumn 2013
SHREDDERS
01732 759725
Paper trails exposing confidential
company secrets
Effective destruction strategy
New research by Fellowes has found that more than half (65%)
of UK workers secretly know what their colleagues earn.
Two-fifths regularly discover colleagues’ salary information
and a further one in five know their boss’ annual salary.
Almost a fifth of the UK workforce go
out of their way to read juicy material
on their contemporaries, with one in 10
going as far as bin raiding to get sight
of co-workers’ personal information.
Sixteen per cent of those polled
admitted that they would be more
concerned about a colleague knowing
personal information about them than a
fraudster taking and using their personal
information.
Payslips (40%) are the most common
paper-based material left lying around the
office, followed by staff contracts (22%)
and bank statements (12%) belonging to
the company or employees.
Senior management must consider
the security of commercially sensitive
information given that employees often
see copies of company plans and decisions
left on the printer (27%), or photocopier
or scanner (20%).Worse still, some 15%
get sight of confidential information
referring to redundancy packages and
business restructuring information that’s
carelessly left behind in meeting rooms
(11%).
The forgotten threat
Information accidentally left offsite is
just as likely to put the company and
individuals at risk of identity fraud.
Around a quarter of office workers
leave behind confidential paper-based
information belonging to the company
on a train or bus. The survey revealed that
some 15% of respondents recall leaving
behind confidential documents in a pub
and a further 12% in a café or restaurant.
Commenting on the study, Fellowes’
Sales and Marketing Director Darryl
Brunt said: “Whilst we understand the
consequences of failing to increase
security online, paper-based information
seems to be the forgotten threat,
especially within the workplace.”
The survey suggests that employees
are becoming far too complacent with
the security of personal information. More
than half (52%) are failing to take basic
precautions such as consistently shredding
paper documents with private or personal
information before discarding.
“It is vitally important not to leave
copies of confidential files around the
office,” said Brunt. “When paper-based
information isn’t destroyed correctly,
confidential information can easily be
used by others for identity fraud. Instances
where confidential documents are left
on view for the entire workforce to see
could not only cause repercussions for the
individual, but for the business as well.”
www.fellowes.com
All companies have a legal
responsibility under the Data
Protection Act to destroy
personal information when it is
no longer required. A corporate
culture in which security is
recognised as a high priority
and steps are taken to ensure
important documents are
securely disposed of and not
simply put in the bin is vital.
Deploying shredders in key
locations around a business and at
home is an effective destruction
strategy.With a vast range of
feature-rich, easy to use and in
many cases inexpensive, shredders
to choose from, there’s really no
excuse not to shred.
And it’s not just paper that
poses a security risk. Confidential
information is often recorded
on CDs, DVDs and floppy disks
for example. Destroying this
information by shredding with
a machine that is capable of
accommodating electronic media
is one of the easiest ways to
protect your data.
Secure solutions
German manufacturer HSM has
a large family of machines that
can shred paper, credit cards, CDs
and DVDs in strips or particles.
Each one is precisely tailored to a
specific requirement whether it’s a
document shredder for home use
or a high volume shredder press
system and solution for disposing
of digital media in the office.
www.hsm.eu/uk/
IDEAL offers a full range: from
the compact desk-side IDEAL
2270, which comes with a second
cutting head for CDs and DVDs
and a separate shred collection
unit for easy waste separation;
through to the IDEAL 0101 HDP,
which, at the touch of a button,
punches a hole completely
through a hard drive, rendering the
stored data inaccessible.
www.ideal-uk.co.uk
Rexel offers a comprehensive
range from personal/executive to
large departmental models. Its
flagship Auto Shred range offers
the ability to shred from 65 to
550 sheets in one load as soon
as the user loads the paper and
closes the lid. Mercury technology
prevents paper jams.
www.rexeleurope.com
Fellowes, too, has a wide selection
for all environments from
personal shredders to heavy duty
commercial shredders. The range
includes Jam Blocker technology
which blocks paper jams before
they start; SafeSense technology
that stops shredding immediately
hands touch the paper entry; and
SilentShred technology, which
provides ultra-quiet operation
and consistent noise quality to
minimise office disruption.
www.fellowes.com