Shredding is Essential to your Security
Jun 06 '01
The Bottom Line Pick a good brand. Make sure you buy a shredder with enough capacity, don't try to overwork it and constantly maintain your shredder.
Although computer were suppose to eliminate the amount of paper used, studies have shown that it has increased. Many businesses and individuals find themselves with a lot of excess paper, a lot with valuable information that they need to dispose of. This is where paper shredders come in
Why Shred?
Many people don’t realize what kind of information people can discover by going through trash. People have been able to get people’s credit card numbers, password and even SSNs through the trash. Also, people thing that if they tear the document in half or even quarter fold, that they have solved that problem. The answer is blatantly NO.
People can easily re-construct torn documents even easier the documents with large shred sizes shredded by a machine. When someone physically tears a document, the shape of the tear is unique to each tear, therefore, its much each to figure out which piece goes where. With machine shredders, every shred is identical therefore it is harder (But not always impossible) to reconstruct a document.
Shredding helps recycling. Many recycling companies will pay you to buy your shredded paper. Don’t expect millions, I mean a dollar a bag or so. But you should know that you are contributing to help saving the environment.
What Brand should I buy?
There are many cheap shredder brands out there. You should really choose one which is reliable, as your safety or your company’s safety depends on it. There are a couple of brand names I can recommend.
The following brands I have used and I can safely say you should consider. Ideal, Fellows, Intimus and Bossner are excellent shredder manufacturers. I have had a lot of experience with shredders of all sizes, any of those brands will do. Although some models tend to be better than others, you will need to find reviews on each model to compare between these brands.
What capacity Shredder to buy?
Many people overlook the capacity of shredders, that is, how much paper it can take, e.t.c. Too many people buy the smallest and cheapest shredder and end up overloading and jamming it. A lot of small shredders will automatically switch off when overloaded. A small 5-6 sheet shredder cannot serve an entire department.
If you are looking for shredders for your office, consider buying a 2-4 paper shredder for each office, have one at the side of everyone’s desk. These shredders are relatively cheap, a good quality one can be purchased for $30. You can also consider buying a larger shredder to service an entire department. Just remember, larger shredder require a lot more maintenance.
For larger shredders, you should look for things like paper feed trays. This is ideal for continuous paper and sheets which you can stack and leave to shred. Also, consider the size of the basket. You don’t want to be emptying a bag every hour. Make sure the paper basket is big enough so it doesn’t become a problem.
What Size shred should I look for?
This is one of the most important issues to look at when you buy a shredder. There are basically 2 types of paper shreds -: Strip Cut, Cross Cut. There are other type of shreds I will explain also.
Strip Cut shreds are those that cut the paper Vertically only. So you end up with long and thin strips. There are varieties of the width of these strips. This is the lowest level of security shredding. Although it provides some security and is much better than tearing paper, these types of shredders will NOT prevent someone from reconstructing your document if they wanted to. They are intended for paper which is not seriously important and are basically used to save space and help recycle. If you are absolutely concerned with the security of your documents, like credit cards, e.t.c. do not use this.
Cross cuts are a step up to the security of you document. These shredders cut documents vertically and horizontally. The sizes of these little rectangles vary with the type of cutting blades. This level of security is good for confidential documents because its quite hard to reconstruct. I guess if someone was paid a million dollars to reconstruct your document, they could, but if your documents aren’t containing Million dollar bank PINs then this type of shredder would be ideal for any home or business user needing to get rid of their confidential documents.
Besides those two, there are other types of shredders. There are also Confetti shredders which shred paper into small 1/2cm X 1/2cm pieces or somewhere around that size. This is probably the highest level of security in a small business’ price range. These documents are basically Impossible to reconstruct. Another type of shredder is a powder shredder. These shredders turn documents into powder, like little grains of salt. These shredders are EXTREMELY expensive and are basically used by the government. There are also some variation shredders which convert paper into things like packing material, e.t.c.
The higher the level of security, the higher the price. That’s basically how it goes. Even within the security levels. For example, in strip cut shredders, some of them make thinner strips. The smaller they get, the bigger the price gets. Buy what you can afford. Most home users may not even need a cross cut shredder, as cross cuts cost quite a bit more than strip cuts.
Note: There are also things like Credit card and CD shredders which can shred plastics and this like that. These are bigger shredders and tend to be a bit pricey.
Warranties
Many people overlook the warranties included with shredders. Read the fine print properly. Shredders are usually overworked and break down frequently if mis-used. Also, warranties are basically broken up in two, Parts and Labour and Cutting system.
The Parts and Labour warranty means that any piece of the shredder that breaks they will fix for you. For example, button cracks and door handle damages. This part of the warranty is normally the shortest, usually 1 year.
The cutting system warranty is normally longer than the parts and labour. This warranty covers the actually cutting blades ONLY. If the blades break or something so (Which they rarely do) the will replace/fix the actual blades. This part of the warranty lasts for 3 to 5 years depending on the shredder and the company.
Maintenance
Many people overwork their shredders, as I said before. People should take measures to protect their investment.
1. You should Oil your shredders frequently, like every week or so. This is one of the best things you can do to help prevent breakdowns. Many retailers/manufacturers will be glad to give you a bottle of oil with your shredder as it saves the amount of time they have to come fix your shredder
2. Do not overwork your shredder. If it is a small shredder, do not shred constantly for more than 10 minutes. Even larger shredders shouldn’t be run for more than 30 minutes straight. You should try to break up the loads and do some at a time.
3. Clean the blades. Make sure the shredders is OFF first (Take out the plug first). Then, take a pick or something so and try to pull of the pieces of paper stuck in the blades. This should be done regularly to prevent paper jams.
4. Try to take out paper clips and staples. Just because the manufacturer said that it can you don’t have to, you should. Staples and paper clips are high on the list of causes of shredder jams.
Other Notes
Many of the smaller shredders don’t come with a bin. You can place the shredder on top of a regular bin. This can save you money as companies tend to overprice the cost of the bin.
If you follow the guide above, you should be able to protect your information and help the environment. Anybody who throws away paper should have a shredder.
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