There are so many things to keep track of when running a business. Besides providing your clients and customers excellent products and services and ensuring your employees are fulfilled in their career and performing optimally, there’s also the matter of privacy and security. How do you protect your business ideas, financial information, customers, and employees from theft? Enter security paper, sensitive document disposal, and commercial paper shredding.
In this article, we’ll break down why protecting sensitive information is important and share document security best practices. We’ll also discuss what security paper is used for, where you can find security paper, and how to find commercial shredding services.
Security and Protecting Sensitive Information
Security breaches are a serious concern for businesses large and small, and they’re on the rise. By September of 2021, the number of data breaches was already higher than the total number of breaches in 2020 by 17%.
As a business, it’s your responsibility to protect the financial and otherwise sensitive personal information of your customers and employees. If you break trust with the people who depend on you to keep their personal information safe, that trust is very hard to recover. In addition, data breaches and cyberattacks cost businesses an average of $200,000.
Could your business withstand such a colossal loss of wealth and trust? Very likely not, which is why it is vital to the future health and wealth of your business that you prioritize security both digitally and on paper.
Document Security Best Practices
Cybersecurity may be all the rage right now, but document security is just as essential. If a document containing your business’s financial information ends up in the wrong hands, how are your employees or customers supposed to trust you with their own sensitive information?
Document security should be built into your office procedures. There must be clear protocols in place, and all staff should be aware of and follow these protocols.
Where are sensitive documents stored in your workplace? Are they locked up? How many keys are there, and where are those keys kept? Who has access to these documents? Who is responsible for sensitive documents? As staff turnover occurs, who takes on those responsibilities? Are secured documents allowed to leave the building? What is the process for removing documents from their location and ensuring they return again?
Security is a big deal to your clients, and it should be to you too. Just one security breach can totally derail your clients’ trust in you as well as your credibility. Your customers expect that their data is being protected. And if it isn’t, they’re certainly going to talk. That’s not the kind of word of mouth you want spreading.
You are only as secure as your weakest link. Make sure all new staff are trained on document security, and regularly update the entire team on the importance of security as well as what’s expected of everyone in the office. Onboarding must include guidance on document security, and be sure to ask if new hires have any questions about your protocols. All-hands meetings are an ideal time to review both cybersecurity and document security.
What Is Security Paper, and What Is It Used For?
In addition to employee training, secure storage locations, and strong security policies, security paper is another way you can protect sensitive information.
Security paper is a paper that integrates features that can be used to identify and authenticate a document as an original. These features include watermarks, invisible fibers in the paper, and other features that can demonstrate evidence of tampering if fraud is attempted. Passports, birth certificates, some forms of academic certificates, government documents, as well as personal and business checks are all examples of security paper.
The primary use of security paper is to defend sensitive documents against tampering, counterfeiting, or otherwise illegal duplicating.
Where to Buy Security Document Paper
We always recommend shopping local whenever you can, so before you look for security paper anywhere else, check with your local business supplies store. If you can’t purchase security paper locally, before turning to Amazon, you can easily add security paper to your Blue Summit Supplies order.
Our DocuGard security paper is excellent for any document not authorized for duplication. It deters fraud, protects personal information, and exceeds federal guidelines for tamper-resistant security paper.
Sensitive Document Disposal
Once sensitive documents become obsolete, it’s not enough to simply crumple them up and throw them in the trash; anyone can find them there. (Okay, maybe not anyone. But never underestimate a criminal’s willingness to get their hands dirty. It’s kind of their M.O.)
How do you absolutely ensure sensitive documents don’t fall into the wrong hands? Security document destruction! 🔥
Paper shredding is essential to the safety of your sensitive information; plus, it’s affordable and doesn’t take long. Professional paper shredding services meticulously destroy sensitive documents, keeping the personal information of your customers and employees totally secure.
How to Find Commercial Paper Shredding
Search locally within your community for a commercial shredding business. The rate at which you require the business will depend on your budget as well as how often you produce paper waste.
You can choose a one-time service or schedule paper shredding on a regular basis if you continually have paper you need to dispose of. Depending on the business you choose and your own business’s unique needs, you could schedule paper shredding on a weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis.
If your business only generates a small amount of sensitive paper waste, such as a box or two of paper as opposed to hundreds of pounds of paper, you could choose a ship and shred service. It’s an affordable, convenient option that you can organize completely online. The commercial paper shredding business will come by your home or place of work, pick up the documents, and then send you a certificate of destruction once the documents have been purged from existence.
If you’d rather take care of the shredding yourself, you can also purchase your own commercial paper shredder.
When deciding between a shredding service and buying your own shredder, factor in the cost of the machine as well as the employee cost of operating the shredder. Keep in mind this task may be time-consuming and will take away from other work. Depending on the wage or salary of your employees, shredding sensitive documents in-house could end up costing you more.
How much paper do you need to shred, and how time-consuming will it be to load the paper into your office shredder? How many pages can it shred at a time? Where can you dispose of the shredded paper after it’s shredded, and how long will that added task take? And, finally, how costly are repairs for the machine, and how often will said repairs need to take place?
What is a Non-Photo Blue Pencil?
Non-photo blue (also known as non-repro blue) is a common tool in the print industry as well as in graphic design and illustration. Non-photo blue color is a specific shade of blue that can’t be distinguished by graphic arts camera film or copiers. It enables artists to add sketch lines that they won’t need to erase before applying ink to the paper and allows layout editors to leave notes for the printer that won’t show in the final form.
Lines drawn with a non-photo blue pencil disappear when photocopied or scanned in. If you need to print out any sensitive information on paper by hand, and that piece of paper is stolen, it cannot be reproduced.
Where to Buy Non-Photo Blue Lead Pencils
As we’ve recommended above, if you’re in the market for a non-photo blue pencil or office supplies of any kind, check with your local business supplies store.
The Staedtler non-photo blue pencil is an excellent, affordable product. You can also find non-photo blue pencils at common office supplies stores, such as Wal-Mart or Office Depot. They’re also available from Amazon.
A Guide for Every Type of Paper
We’re passionate about paper! We’ve created a number of guides to help you differentiate between different paper types and choose the best type of paper for your home, classroom, or office.
💡 Receipt Paper: What is Thermal Paper vs. Bond Paper?
💡 Copy Paper vs. Printer Paper and Other Types of Paper Stock Compared
💡 Types of Paper: Thickness, Dimensions, and More
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