Secure paper shredders, from the secure paper shredder used in the typical residential home to the high security paper shredders like the industrial office shredder or level 6 shredder, play an important role in the disposing of sensitive documents. And this disposal is quite hugely important, as forgoing this step can leave one at risk for identity theft. And as many who utilize a secure paper shredder are likely aware, identity theft is quite commonplace indeed, perhaps more so than you’ve even realized.
As a matter of fact, millions of cases of identity theft occur over the course of just one single year – and that’s just here in the United States alone. In the year of 2017, just a few years in the past, well over 16 million people fell victim to various forms of identity fraud. And even more people became the victims of different forms of information fraud. The ramifications of identity theft can be long lasting as well, both on the individual scale as well as beyond it. For individual people, identity theft can cause them a great deal of financial distress, something that can get in the way of their long term plans, such as interrupting desires to buy a home or even just rent an apartment, as identity theft can often wreak havoc on one’s credit score.
And it’s not just individual people who suffer as a result of identity theft. As far too many companies have already experienced, a loss of customers (often permanently) can be expected for any given breach of security that occurs at any given company. As a matter of fact, the data that has been gathered on this subject is quite clear on this fact, showing that a full 40% of all current customers in the United States would stop frequenting just about any business out there if there had been a security breach, choosing instead to take their business elsewhere. So while individuals can certainly suffer (and do suffer, of course) as a result of identity fraud, its impact can be even further reaching.
Therefore, the use of secure paper shredders to conduct secure paper shredding is an absolute must. With secure paper shredders, you will be able to destroy any sensitive information that your documents contain. For a great many people, investing in small secure paper shredders will be more than worth the investment. And companies should all be using larger scale secure paper shredders. An industrial shredder machine is something that can benefit any companies in the United States – and even beyond it – immensely.
And though the work of an industrial shredder machine is important, the role of secure paper shredder sis just one step out of many that can be taken to prevent identity fraud of all kintesds. Monitoring your internet activity is also something that can benefit you immensely. Already, up to half of all people in the United States take at least some precautions when operating online, such as not providing crucial information to sites that do not seem secure – and, in fact, often avoiding those sites altogether. Just taking such slight steps can make a world of difference. And practicing safety online has become truly more important than ever before, thanks to the fact that the sheer number of online users have grown tremendously in this country and on our planet as a whole, with more than three and a half billion people utilizing various online services and having internet access in general. And in the years that are ahead of us, this number is certainly only likely to continue growing and growing, of this there is no doubt.
At the end of the day, there is no denying that identity frauds of all kinds are a very real risk to individual people and businesses alike. Fortunately, however, there are simple steps of prevention. Secure paper shredders and safe online activity represent just a couple of them, and taking advantage of this knowledge can keep you safe in the future, of this there is no doubt.
