Naturally we have all been advised to have our private papers shredded instead of merely putting them out to the garbage. Paper shredding seems to be a simple matter of putting the paper through a machine and having it reduced to strips or bits of paper. But it is not. Like all highly sought after services, paper shredding services have developed standards for different kinds of shredding needs.
For instance there are many types of paper shredders:
- The least secure are the strip-cut shredders which merely slice the paper into vertical strips. These bits can be easily put together again by people intent on finding information from them.
- Then there are the shredders which slice up the paper into rectangular or diamond shaped pieces.
- Thirdly we have shredders which produce tiny squares and circles from the shredded paper.
- Then we have the really fine shredders which repeatedly slice up the paper into little bits until the little shreds can comfortably pass through a mesh.
- Lastly we have the technology that literally beats the paper back to a pulp.
The level of security you want to get through paper shredding services will determine what type of paper shredding technology you will want to avail yourself of. Because some of the more meticulous paper shredding technology is relatively expensive to purchase, put up and maintain, it makes better sense to just have your paper shredding needs attended to by people who specialize in it.
Paper shredding services have different types of machines to accomplish their client's different shredding needs. Just as shredding technology has made leaps and bounds, so has the counter-technology of reassembling shredded paper. Nowadays, it is no longer sufficient to just tear the paper into small strips. Identity theft is on the upswing and it is necessary to cut paper into the pieces measurable only by millimeters. Shredding security levels one to six range from 12mm sizes to .8 mm sizes.
The next time you have your paper shredded, ask the paper shredding service people how small the shredded paper will be. If the documents you seek to destroy have a high degree of sensitivity, you should opt for paper shredding services that can cut them up to within the range of secure sizes that was mentioned above.
Paper shredding services are being offered today on-site, meaning that the shredders will be mounted on trucks and the trucks can go directly to your location to shred your documents. Normally these trucks have machines which can shred up to 8,000 pounds of paper an hour.
And it is not just paper which is being shredded today. Even CDs, DVDs, SIM cards, credit cards also need to be destroyed to safeguard the confidentiality of people who owned them. In line with this, the manufacturers of shredding machines have made shredders which are more durable. If you are thinking of buying a paper shredder, you might opt for machines that can accommodate the pulverizing of items that are harder that paper.