What Are The Security Ratings For Paper Shredders?

Since paper shredders are the main defense against identity theft, a way to measure their effectiveness was determined. Strip cutting shredders have produced waste that could be  reassembled by motivated thieves and investigators. Security is of utmost importance in protecting waste from thieve so security ratings have been devised to measure the effectiveness of shredder security. Let's look at these ratings as they will be helpful in having a secure paper shredding program for any home or business user.

When setting up a shredding program consider the sensitivity and importance of the documents you will dispose of. Although any personal information such as name, address, phone numbers, social security number, and date of birth are basic identity information and would be need to be fully safe guarded. 

The guidelines set up by FACTA requires the disposal of documents with any personal information of any individuals be destroyed properly and in a reasonable way. One of the ways considered reasonable is by proper shredding. 

One of the methods of grading shredder security is the Deutsche Industrial Norm (DIN) This method that originated in Europe sets forth six levels of security. The DIN security level descriptions are as follows:

Level 1. general to low - general records
Level 2. low to medium - internal documents
Level 3. confidential to medium - documents containing personal and confidential information
Level 4. sensitive to medium to high - confidential documents
Level 5. classified to high to maximum 
Level 6. top secret - the highest level security available

The type of shredder you choose should be based on the level of security demanded by your job. First of all strip cutting shredders present the lowest lever of security. Information thieves have successfully reassembled these documents and retrieved valuable information.

The confetti or cross cutting shredders offer the next level security which is  adequate for many projects. These shredders are popular among home and small office users and does cross cutt to get the confetti type shreds as waste.

As you shop for a shredder notice the security level designation in the description. Other items such as CD's, floppy disks, cardboard goods and other items may need to be shred also. The sales description should give you a clue as to what items your shredder is capable of shredding. If additional horsepower is needed make the adjustment. Many companies store confidential data as well as computer backups on computer disks so your shredder should be able to shred these items with ease.

The FACTA ruling has certainly increased the responsibilities of individuals and small and large businesses in responsibly handling personal information. By failing to shred properly and you are negligent the victim can recover damages from you of up to $1,000 per incident. State and local offenses could incur fines of up to $2,500 per incident.

So responsible shredding could be pretty simple as long as you are aware of the security level you will be held responsible for. Some offices have multiple shredders to handle the different security levels in different departments.
By complying with the shredding laws you will not only be protecting your clients, employees and business associates from identity theft. In today's climate of identity theft shredding today just makes good sense.