Why You Need to Stop Hoarding Information

There’s this running idea that holding onto your physical and digital data is a good idea. Well we’re here to tell you — that idea needs to go. There are many dangers that come with holding onto information for longer than you have to. That’s why you need to stop hoarding information and learn to let it go.

Why You Need to Stop Hoarding Information

Security Reasons

While you may think that your information is safer with you, that’s not necessarily true. Hoarding information gives thieves the opportunity to steal large amounts of it. If you don’t need it anymore, you’re better off destroying papers and other data.

Productivity Issues

Studies have shown employees can spend 30-40% of their time looking for information before actually finding and using it. That’s a big waste of time. Instead, securely store information in any organized fashion, and get rid of anything else just taking up space.

Money Issues

You’re filling file cabinets with documents, and those cabinets cost money to buy and maintain. If you’re hoarding information, you’re wasting money on unnecessary storage when those funds could be used elsewhere.

Response Time Issues

If your information system is breached, all that information could prevent your team from responding in a quick manner since they’ll have to go through all that information first before finding the actually problem.

Server Issues

So much of the information saved of your company servers goes untouched for years, making your servers slower for no good reason. Stop hoarding information and hard drives, and wipe anything you don’t need.

At Complete Shredding Solutions, we are expert in paper, media, and non-media data destruction. Let us help you get rid of information you no longer need and help keep your business running safely and efficiently. For more information or to schedule a shredding services near me, call us at 516-442-1624.

How Your Employees Could Cause a Security Breach

As a business person, we’re sure you take plenty of precautions when it comes to your data security. However, you’re only as strong as your weakest link — which could be an employee or several employees not practicing proper protocol when it comes to sensitive information. No matter how strong your systems are, there are a few ways your employees could cause a security breach.

How Your Employees Could Cause a Security Breach

They don’t use “the cloud” properly.

As much as we’d like “the cloud” the be secure, in reality, it’s a network and can be hacked. If your employees are putting information onto that network that shouldn’t be there, you could end up with a breach on your hands.

They use personal devices for work.

You put a lot of time and effort into making sure your computer systems are secure and safe from hacking — but personal tech companies don’t do the same. Unless you want a data breach, your employees should not be using their personal phones, computers, or email accounts when handling private information.

They misuse social media.

Not only do hackers often use social media sites as a way to get personal information, but in some industries, posting work-related material to social media can land you in hot water. For example, a nurse posting a picture of a patient without consent can end up violating HIPAA laws.

They inappropriately share information with third parties.

If there is no written consent from a client or patient to share his or her information with another party when it is not related to medical reasons, you are violating privacy laws and could suffer a security breach if that shared information is misused.

Don’t let poor security habits land you in hot water — contact Complete Shredding Solutions instead! We specialize in data destruction so we know how to securely handle and dispose of your private information. For more information or to schedule a shred services near me, call us at 516-442-1624.

How to Handle Water Damaged Documents

Sometimes, accidents happen, and we have to deal with the consequences — like your important papers being water-damaged because of a leak or natural disaster. During your cleanup, you probably will wonder what you should do with stacks of wet papers, and that’s why we’re here to help. Here’s how you should handle water-damaged documents.

Assess What’s Damaged

Check to see if the water made it through the entire stack or if only part of the pile got wet. If the latter is the case, save what you can, and move the dry papers to a safe place. You should then try to take note of what documents are damaged and will need replacing.

Get Rid of the Boxes

If the water-damaged documents were in boxes, your next step should be to get rid of those. Even if you managed to dry the boxes, they still won’t be structurally sound and safe for reuse. You’re better off trashing them and buying new ones.

Dry the Damaged Papers

It may seem silly to dry wet papers, but there are two important reasons to do this. First, dry the papers prevents mold and mildew from growing. Second, if you try to shred wet papers, they can end up clumping together and clog the shredder. To dry the paper, lay each sheet out flat on a dry surface and open nearby windows and use fans to circulate the air in the area.

Important: If you discard papers that are even partially legible, the information could be still be stolen. If your business was flooded, you may also have documents that are not legally allowed to be thrown in the trash. When you have to deal with water-damaged documents, drying and shredding them is your best bet for safety.

For help keeping your information safe, contact Complete Shredding Solutions instead! We specialize in data destruction so we know how to securely handle and dispose of your private information. For more information or to schedule a shredding service near me, call us at 516-442-1624.

 

Why You Need to Shred Old Devices

Have you ever taken a hammer to an old phone or computer in an effort to destroy the information on it? It’s pretty satisfying right. That is until you (hopefully) realize that those methods really don’t do anything besides give you a way to blow off steam by being destructive. If that’s surprising to you, here’s why you need to shred old devices.

Restoring your phone to factory settings doesn’t really work.

Most cell phone companies will advise you to restore your phone to factory settings to erase the information on it. However, studies have been done that show that 80% of the time, authentication tokens were able to be found and used to access confidential information on those restored phones. Basically, that means that 80% of the time, your information can still be accessed on an old device.

Hammers don’t do much of anything.

Just because you take a hammer to an old phone, computer, hard drive, or other devices, it doesn’t mean your information is gone. While the device may look destroyed, the memory chip and other information components could still be perfectly intact. You can only guarantee that your information is safe by letting us shred old devices.

It only takes a bit of information to get your identity stolen.

Think of all the personal information you’ve downloaded onto your computer or even have in your email. All it takes is a hacker finding out a couple of small pieces of information to have your identity stolen.

At Complete Shredding Solutions, we are experts when it comes to information elimination. We offer media shredding services as well as paper items at affordable prices. For more information or to schedule a service, call us at 516-442-1624.

What You Need to Know About E-Waste

You’d have to be living under a rock to not know that the new iPhone X has taken the digital world by storm — by that, we mean people are waiting hours on line to buy a $1,000 phone. Now as nice as having the latest phone is, think about how many “old” phones are going to be thrown out now. Whether or not you’re getting a new device, there are some things you need to know about e-waste.

• Forty million tons of e-waste are created each year from how much we improperly dispose of it. A lot of it ends up in landfills or makes its way into the environment, causing major harm.
• On average, a person gets a new cell phone every 18 months. Since most of the “old” phones just get thrown out, that’s a quick cycle that creates a lot of e-waste.
• E-waste accounts for around 70% of the toxic waste in our world because it’s not properly disposed of.
• About only 12% of e-waste is actually recycled. Twelve. Percent.
• An estimated 300 million computers and one billion cell phones are made each year. And where do most of those old devices go? Right into the garbage.
• The worst kinds of e-waste come from plasma and LCD screens on laptops and TVs and the cathode ray tubes inside our TVs and computer. Good thing those devices are what make up a big majority of all our e-waste, right?
• The lead found in a lot of materials that make up e-waste can cause mental health issues in children and even adults.

At Complete Shredding Solutions, we make it a priority to be green when we help destroy your personal information. We recycle all paper, as well as the media devices, we shred in order to keep our environment safe. For more information or to schedule a shredding service, call us at 516-442-1624.

Is Your Healthcare Security Lacking?

Generally speaking, there are two kinds of information people take most seriously: their financial information and their medical information. That’s why so many lawsuits result from the mishandling of medical records. The best way to prevent these kinds of incidents is by having a solid plan to keep client information safe. That’s why you need to be aware of the places your healthcare system may be lacking security.

Your Old Medical Files

If you’ve digitized your healthcare system, holding onto the old paper copies of patient files can put you at risk for a security breach. Once you have backed up those records to a digital system, shred the paper files to avoid having them fall into the wrong hands.

Your Mobile Devices

Whether it be a laptop used to quickly record patient data or a cell phone that employees use to communicate information quickly across floors, any mobile device you use needs to be securely kept track of to avoid having it (and patients’ information on it) stolen.

Your Digital Security System

Every device that stores patient information needs to be secured with firewalls and encryptions that make them difficult to hack. This helps protect them from hacking software that can remotely steal patient information in minutes.

Your Employee’s Social Media

While some patients don’t mind being featured on an office’s social media accounts, that’s not the case for everyone. If your employees post pictures, videos, or even just the name of a patient without his or her written consent, you could find yourself facing a lawsuit.

 

If you’re not sure if your healthcare system may be lacking security, ask the experts at Complete Shredding Solutions. We are experts when it comes to information elimination and offers media shredding services as well as paper items at affordable prices. For more information or to schedule a service, call us at 516-442-1624.

 

The Benefits of Mobile Shredding

When running a business or dealing with clients means you probably have documented personal information at hand. The dangers of personal and corporate identity theft are real and the results can be devastating. Don’t be a victim. When it is time to dispose of that information, it’s vital that you take care in disposing these documents properly.

Here are a few benefits you can expect when hiring a mobile shredding service.

• A mobile shredding company will come to you at your convenience. No need to worry about carrying vital information personally and transporting this data to be destroyed. These mobile vehicles are capable of shredding twenty thousands of pounds of paper an hour, saving you and your employees time and worry.

• Trained representatives will gather and transfer all these documents for you. Locked in document storage receptacles, we will assist on transferring documents to our trucks for destruction.

• You can personally see your companies sensitive materials get shredded in person. Giving you a piece of mind that this sensitive material is being disposed of properly.

• When shredding this sensitive data, these documents are mixed in with other shredded information from other locations, making it impossible to ever place back together again.

• Once your confidential documents are destroyed in a safe and efficient manner, you will be provided with a certificate of destruction as proof of your compliance with all privacy legislation.

• When you set up a recurring shredding service. Bins will be left in the office with locks and once they are full, trained shredding service professionals will come out and repeat this process without interrupting the work environment.

Remember, Complete Shredding solutions offers mobile shredding services for all your data destruction needs. Each mobile shredding vehicle is equipped with surveillance for first-hand witnessed destruction. Get a quote today, visit us at https://completeshreddingsolutions.com/

Decorating Your Office for the Holidays

Get in the Holiday Spirit by Bringing Christmas to Your Cubicle

Bring the Holiday Spirit to Work

Complete Shredding Solutions Tips for getting into the holiday spirit at work. Here is just one way to boost your and your coworker’s morale! Sometimes, the holiday season seems to drag by because you’re stuck working when you’d rather be binging on Christmas movies, eating candy canes, and taking magical walks through the snow. If you’re one of the many stuck in a cubicle, don’t worry. If you can’t go to the north pole, bring the north pole to your office space simply by decorating!

Start with Simple Decorations Before Evolving
If you’ve never decorated before or you don’t know how your boss will react, start simple. String a few simple lights around the top of your cubicle. Don’t go so overboard that you blind your coworkers. A series of white lights would look great wrapped around your shelves or on the top of your computer. On the entrance to your cubicle, you can wrap spruce or pine garland. Not only does it give a fresh scent to your space, but it also looks great.

Small Touches Mean the Most
When decorating for the holidays, it’s all about the small touches. If you have some Christmas cards from home, tack them up in your cubicle. They look much better on display than tucked away in your drawer at home. You can also create small crafts to put on display:

• Mini pinecone Christmas trees
• Small boxes wrapped like presents
• Put Christmas tree ornaments in a glass bowl to create a centerpiece

Make Holiday Crafts for a More Personal Look
If you’re feeling adventurous, then get into the holiday spirit by making crafts! A really fun one to do involves your coworkers. Start by cutting elves, reindeer, or snowmen out of construction paper. Next, you’ll want to print off small pictures of your coworkers. Cut their faces out and attach them to your paper elves and snowmen! You can either hang them up or give them away to your coworkers. They’re sure to be a hoot, and your cubicle might just become the most popular place to hang out! If you’d rather take a more simple route with crafts, you can always cut snowflakes out of paper, attach a string or ribbon, and dangle them from the top of your cubicle.

For a Final Touch: Add the Tree
Finally, nothing says Christmas like a tree. Most people would say go big or go home, but of course, you don’t want to make your boss made. Purchase a small Christmas tree that would sit nicely on your desk. It’ll be a warm reminder of the holiday. Overall, decorating for the holidays can be fun even for companies who take protecting your documents seriously. Therefore, check out Complete Shredding Solutions Tips for all your business needs.

 

How to Limit Plastic Waste

Here is a handy guide from us on how to limit your plastic waste and usage. Remember to recycle!

 

Why Do People Limit Plastic Waste?
Using less plastic is a movement that many people are getting behind. That’s because as time goes on, more research comes out which says just how harmful plastic is for the environment. Plastic can release chemicals that are harmful to soil, water sources, and the ecosystem. This can cause problems for animals that live there and drink the water. Animals are also killed by getting tangled in plastic. Luckily, all of this is preventable if we limit our use of plastic.

Stop Using Plastic Bags at Grocery Stores
Anytime you head to the grocery store, you’ll likely be asked: “would you prefer paper or plastic?” There are two choices you can make to cut down on plastic. You can ask for paper bags or you can bring your own reusable bag. Many grocery stores will also offer you an incentive if you bring your own bag or return plastic bags that you have at home.

Eliminate Plastic Consumption at Restaurants
When you’re out to eat, you can take a few simple steps to limit your plastic use. Don’t take a plastic straw, don’t use plastic cups, and don’t use the little plastic containers for your condiment. These are a few luxuries that you can actually go without, and it will end up making a big difference for the planet.

Purchase Your Food in Bulk Whenever Possible
So many food items in today’s society come in plastic containers. These are things like milk, juice, cereals, snacks, and more. To cut back on plastic, purchase these items in bulk and ration them in a reusable container. Also, avoid purchasing frozen foods because their packaging is plastic. When packaging up your food for lunch, use reusable containers and bags. Avoid plastic sandwich baggies. Same goes for your beverage. If you grab a cup of coffee every morning, see if your local shop can put your coffee in your portable to-go mug instead.

Conclusion: Small Changes Go a Big Way
All of these small changes to limit plastic waste go a long way to leave our planet a little better than the way we found it. It’s also important to choose businesses that are environmentally friendly. If you have recyclable materials at home that you need to dispose of such as paper, take them to a document shredding service.