Do I Really Need a Paper Shredder?
We are living in times when one of the greatest concerns we face is identity theft.Since nowadays it is not very difficult to replicate and counterfeit any document,our identity may be stolen even without our knowledge.This leads government organizations, businesses and private individuals to destroy their private documents to prevent them from falling into the hands of criminals.
Paper shredders solve the problems faced by these organizations by destroying or cutting up the papers into strips or even smaller pieces. Though reconstruction is possible, it is a tedious process and would require a lot of patience. Experts on identity theft and security, urge citizens to shred their bills, tax documents, expired credit cards and bank account statements which malicious hackers and identity thieves could use to commit fraud.
As organizations realize the need to secure their data and privacy, the paper shredding market grows exponentially with time. Companies use paper shredders to destroy their entire confidential documents to avoid legal issues.
In todays global market, paper shredders range form ones designed for personal use with low shredding capacity, to the industrial type capable of shredding thousands of papers on a daily basis. The larger machines may cost up to thousands of dollars and are sometimes so gigantic that they are built into shredding trucks.
The more the need for paper shredders grows, the need to adjust their size also arises.Some of them are as small as a pair of scissors while others are as huge as trucks. Thats just to illustrate the difference among the the various types...
Paper shredders can be divided into groups according to size and design:
1.Strip Cut: This is the type with the lowest security level.Rotating blades cut up the paper into thin strips whose length equals the length of the entered sheet.In case the shredded strips fall in the wrong hands,they may be reassembled to reconstruct the original sheet.The shredding machine does not randomize the srtips, and the amount of produced garbage is large,as this type of shredding is least compressible.
2.Cross Cut or Confetti Cut: This type of shredder employs the use of two rotating blades at right angles to each other thus resulting in small diamond shaped shreds. It offers a high degree of compression and the shreds are randomized to the maximum, providing high security for our data.
3.Particle Cut: This is similar to a Cross Cut shredder but these shredders create tiny square or circle shreds.
4.Disintegrators and Granulators: These type of shredders cut the original sheets of paper continuously and repeatedly until the shreds are small enough to pass through a mesh.
When you purchase a shredding machine for the first time you must first decide what shredding capacity you are going to need.Depending on this you may either decide to go for the low cost personal shredder, or the commercial type which is more expensive, yet provides higher security level.The necessity of having your own paper shredder is crucial and may make the difference between you and a theif using your identity.
June 17 2009 | home security | No Comments »