Sunday, June 21, 2009

Why Should I Own a Paper Shredder?

By Jack Stevens

Identity theft is one of the major issues on the streets these days. Literally everything can be replicated or counterfeited these days so as to steal ones identity without even their knowledge. Government organizations, businesses and even private individuals have the daily need to destroy papers that contain sensitive information to prevent them from falling into malicious hands.

The problems such organizations encounter are solved by using paper shredding machines, which cut up the documents into strips or tiny particles.Even though one can theoretically reconstruct the papers,it would require tons of patience and nerves of steel.Security experts highly recommend civilians to shred their bills,tax reports,expired credit cards and bank account statements which can be used by hackers to commit deceit.

As organizations realize the need to secure their data and privacy, the paper shredding market grows exponentially with time. Companies use paper shredders to destroy their entire confidential documents to avoid legal issues.

The global market today offers a wide variety of paper shredders,from ones designed for personal use and take up no more than a few pages,to ones designed for industrial use and can take up to thousands of papers each day.Some of the industrial machines are so large,that are built into special shredding trucks.

The more the need for paper shredders grows, the need to adjust their size also arises.Some of them are as small as a pair of scissors while others are as huge as trucks. Thats just to illustrate the difference among the the various types...

Depending on the size and design of the shredded paper we can classify shredders as:

1.Strip Cut: This is the least secure of the paper shredder types. It cuts the paper into strips using rotating knives as long as the original sheet of paper. Such strips can be reassembled or reconstructed with some patience by a malicious user. It does not provide randomization of the strips and is the least compressible so it leads to excess garbage.

2.Cross Cut or Confetti Cut: This kind features a couple of rotating perpendicular blades which shred the papers to small diamond shaped pieces.As a result, the level of compression is brought to maximum, and the security level as well.

3.Particle Cut: This is similar to a Cross Cut shredder but these shredders create tiny square or circle shreds.

4.Disintegrators and Granulators: This is a type that reduces the size of entered paper in a continuous mode of operation until it is small enough to go through a mesh.

Upon deciding to buy a paper shredder,you must first understand the intensity of its planned usage. Depending on that, you may either acquire the non-costly personal shredding machine which is capable of handling no more than a few sheets per day, or you may go for the industrial type which is both more expensive and offers higher security level.One thing is for sure - having your own paper shredder may save you lots of trouble.

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