05 Oct Cybersecurity Awareness Month: Don’t Forget About Your Paper Records
Every October, Cybersecurity Awareness Month reminds businesses and individuals to take a closer look at how they protect sensitive information.
Much of that conversation understandably focuses on what happens on a screen: strong passwords, multifactor authentication, phishing attempts, suspicious links and software updates.
But cybersecurity shouldn’t stop when you turn off the computer.
Confidential information may also be sitting in an unlocked filing cabinet, stacked beside a printer, forgotten in a storage room or tossed into an ordinary recycling bin.
At On-Site Confidential Shredding, protecting sensitive information means looking beyond digital data. For businesses throughout Rockland County, the Hudson Valley, Bergen County, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a good opportunity to take another look at how confidential paper records are handled and ultimately destroyed.
Cybersecurity Is Really About Protecting Information
A business doesn’t stop being responsible for sensitive information simply because it has been printed.
Paper records can contain employee information, Social Security numbers, customer data, financial information, medical information, tax records, contracts, credit information, account numbers and other details that shouldn’t fall into the wrong hands.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) advises businesses to properly dispose of information they no longer need. Its guidance on protecting personal information recommends making sensitive paperwork unreadable before it is discarded.
The FTC’s Disposal Rule also requires businesses and individuals covered by the rule to take appropriate measures when disposing of information derived from consumer reports. Shredding documents so information cannot practically be read or reconstructed is one method identified by the FTC.
Government Resource:
FTC — Protecting Personal Information: A Guide for Business
Government Resource:
FTC — Disposing of Consumer Report Information
Don’t Let Paper Become Your Cybersecurity Blind Spot
Consider how much paper moves through the average workplace.
Documents are printed for meetings. Applications and forms are completed. Employee information is stored. Customer records are copied. Financial documents accumulate. Papers get left beside printers, placed on desks or moved into storage.
Eventually, somebody decides those documents aren’t needed anymore.
That’s when the disposal process becomes important.
Throwing sensitive paperwork into an ordinary garbage or recycling bin can leave information readable and potentially accessible before it is collected and processed.
For businesses throughout Rockland County, Bergen County, the Hudson Valley and Fairfield County, secure document destruction can help close that gap.
A Recycling Bin Isn’t a Security System
Recycling paper and securely destroying confidential information are two different things.
An ordinary recycling container may be appropriate for newspapers, packaging and other non-sensitive paper. Confidential business records are different.
Sensitive documents can remain intact while sitting in a recycling bin, moving through a building or waiting for collection.
Healthcare organizations have additional considerations. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) states that covered entities cannot simply abandon protected health information or dispose of it in dumpsters or other containers accessible to unauthorized individuals. HHS identifies shredding as one method for rendering paper records essentially unreadable and unable to be reconstructed.
Government Resource:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services — Disposal of Protected Health Information
Cybersecurity Awareness Month Is a Good Time for a Paper Security Checkup
October offers businesses an opportunity to look beyond computers and examine how confidential information moves through the entire organization.
Where do employees put confidential documents when they’re finished with them? Are sensitive papers ever left unattended on desks, printers or copiers? Do employees know which records require secure destruction?
Are old employee, customer or financial records accumulating unnecessarily? Can confidential documents be accessed while they’re waiting to be discarded?
Most importantly, does your organization have a consistent procedure for securely destroying sensitive paperwork?
The goal isn’t simply to shred more paper. It’s to create a reliable process for protecting information throughout its lifecycle.
On-Site Confidential Shredding Brings Secure Destruction to You
On-Site Confidential Shredding has more than 17 years of experience providing secure mobile document destruction for corporate accounts, healthcare facilities, government institutions and residential customers.
Rather than taking confidential paperwork somewhere else to be destroyed, On-Site Confidential Shredding brings mobile shredding equipment directly to the customer’s location.
For businesses, that means confidential documents can be destroyed right at the workplace. The company also provides secure destruction for more than paper, including hard drives, x-rays, compact discs, video tapes, floppy disks, photographs and microfilm.
It’s an important distinction during Cybersecurity Awareness Month: protecting information means considering both the physical and digital places where sensitive data may be stored.
Secure Shredding Across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut
On-Site Confidential Shredding provides mobile shredding services throughout Rockland County, the Hudson Valley, Bergen County, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
The company’s service area includes communities throughout the Hudson Valley, including Orange, Putnam, Ulster, Sullivan and Dutchess counties, as well as communities throughout Rockland County.
In New Jersey, On-Site Confidential Shredding serves Bergen County communities including Paramus, Mahwah, Montvale, Ramsey, Hackensack, Ridgewood, Fort Lee and many others.
Connecticut service includes the greater Greenwich area and communities throughout Fairfield and New Haven counties, including Stamford, Norwalk, Westport, Fairfield, Danbury, New Canaan, Darien and Bridgeport.
On-Site Confidential Shredding also provides service in New York City.
This Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Look Beyond the Screen
Cybersecurity Awareness Month is an important reminder that protecting information involves more than passwords, software and computer networks.
Take a look around your workplace.
That old employee file, stack of financial records or box of customer paperwork may contain information every bit as sensitive as the data stored on a computer.
A comprehensive information security strategy should consider what happens to confidential information from the moment it’s created until the moment it’s securely destroyed.
For businesses and residents throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, On-Site Confidential Shredding provides secure mobile document destruction right at your location.
This Cybersecurity Awareness Month, don’t forget about the paper.
FAQs
Why is paper shredding important during Cybersecurity Awareness Month?
Cybersecurity is about protecting information, whether it’s stored on a computer, hard drive or piece of paper. Confidential paper records can contain personal, financial, medical and business information that should be protected from unauthorized access.
What types of business documents should be shredded?
Businesses should consider securely destroying documents containing sensitive information once they’re no longer required. Examples include employee files, customer records, financial documents, tax records, outdated contracts, credit information and documents containing personally identifiable information.
Is recycling confidential paperwork enough?
Ordinary recycling isn’t designed specifically for confidential document destruction. Sensitive paper may remain readable while it is stored, transported or processed. Secure shredding destroys the documents before the resulting material enters the recycling process.
What does On-Site Confidential Shredding destroy?
In addition to paper documents, On-Site Confidential Shredding provides on-site destruction for hard drives, x-rays, compact discs, video tapes and other materials containing potentially sensitive information.
Does On-Site Confidential Shredding come directly to my business?
Yes. On-Site Confidential Shredding uses mobile destruction equipment to perform shredding directly at the customer’s location.
What areas does On-Site Confidential Shredding serve?
On-Site Confidential Shredding serves customers throughout New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, including Rockland County, the Hudson Valley, Bergen County, New York City, Greenwich and communities throughout Fairfield County and surrounding areas.