Office shredders for your business
Office shredders will protect your business against identity theft, fraud and breaches of confidentiality.
The importance of safely disposing of documents is something that most of us are now aware of and a shredder should be an essential item in every office.
But, just like every other type of tech, there are multiple models out there. How do you go about choosing the best office shredders?
With so much choice it can be confusing to find the right one at the right price. But in this article we’ll look at the various options and hopefully try to steer you in the right direction if you’re looking for a new shredder.
But first of all let’s consider…
Why you need office shredders
One word. Or rather abbreviation. GDPR. The rules around confidentiality are so strict now that office shredders up and down the land have been racking up the overtime.
As incredible as it sounds research shows around 25% of UK citizens have been the victims of some form of identity theft. Much of that can be attributed to confidential information and documents ending up in the hands of criminals instead of being destroyed.
The only way to stop (offline) identity theft is to prevent confidential information falling into the wrong hands. The easiest and best way to do this is to invest in a shredder.
By shredding sensitive information and confidential documents you’re alleviating the risk associated with throwing paperwork into the bin or keeping them around the office.
Most organisations now have a policy of shredding documents and those which don’t really should have. Especially with the massive fines possible with GDPR.
But it isn’t just about identity theft or even GDPR. No business wants its sensitive information floating around. A document can easily be mislaid or left on a train. Digitise sensitive information and shred hard copies.
What should we shred?
The basic rule of thumb here is to shred all information that you wouldn’t want anyone outside of the business to know about. Or that customers wouldn’t want anyone to see. So, financial and insurance documents, invoices, quotes, even CVs from unsuccessful job seekers. In short anything which contains personal data even if it’s simply a name and address.
Choosing the best shredder for your business
When choosing your officer shredders there are a few things to consider including the number of people who will be using the machine. But also how many documents will each person typically shred and what level of security is required.
Obviously the more people that will use the shredder the more robust the machine needs to be. And the more capacity you need. But, for one to three users, a personal or desk side model will be sufficient whereas small businesses and shared workplaces will need a commercial grade model.
Types of shredder
The different types of machine are defined by how many strips they cut a sheet of paper into. The more sensitive the information the more strips required. The different cuts available are:
Strip cut – The most popular type of personal shredder. Strip cut machines deliver a P1 Grade cut which cuts the paper into over 30 vertical strips of around 5.8mm. They are also available in a P2 Grade which provides a thinner cut of around 4mm and 55 strips.
These types of shredder are not recommended for sensitive information as determined criminals can actually piece strip cut documents back together using sophisticated software.
Cross cut – these P3 Grade machines cut the paper both horizontally and vertically cutting the material into hundreds of pieces. This makes it almost impossible for documents to be recovered by the average fraudster. These are the minimum grade machines which businesses should be using to dispose of their sensitive material.
Micro cut – similar to a cross cut machine but delivers a much finer cut which basically destroys the document by shredding it into thousands of tiny pieces.
Unsurprisingly these are the most secure of all shredders and are used by large commercial and public organisations to destroy highly confidential or sensitive material.
Office shredders at Ebuyer
You’ll find a huge selection of office shredders here at Ebuyer. From the large department machines capable of handling over 30 sheets of paper at a time to shedders suitable for the small or home office from manufacturers such as Xenta.
Whatever the type of shredder you’re looking for you’ll find the most up to date machines at the lowest prices here at Ebuyer. Check them out here.
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