Keeping Scary Threats to Your Information at Bay
You have a ton of information to manage, both physically and digitally, and there are risks involved given the array of threats associated with identity theft and corporate fraud. This month, we’ve highlighted some of the scary things that threaten your information and what you can do to keep them at bay.
Permanently lost
It’s easy to take the files you have stored within your office for granted. Theoretically, they should be fairly safe—but in reality, they may not be as safe as you think. Without proper organization, indexing, and monitoring, files can easily get misplaced. Documents can easily disappear from a file cabinet if an employee, whether disgruntled or just careless—decides to take them out of the office. And then there’s the potential that paper records could be destroyed from a fire, flood or other catastrophic event. A professional records service helps by:
- managing document retention
- monitoring inventory
- providing off-site storage in support of disaster recovery
Stolen from the trash
It’s all too easy for confidential information to end up in the trash. Paper shredding machines are typically:
- underused
- prone to malfunction
- time-consuming to use
As a result, a corporate dumpster is a goldmine for thieves. A professional shredding service fosters regular disposal of sensitive paperwork, eliminates hand-feeding documents through a shredder, and reduces the risk of confidential business information falling into the wrong hands.
Another important thing to keep in mind: If your business uses consumer reports it is subject to compliance with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA) Disposal Rule which requires reasonable disposal of the consumer report information. Due diligence extends to making sure that shredding and destruction vendors are also compliant. Similarly, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB) Safeguards Rule also requires organizations to ensure proper disposal of consumer information.
Stolen from a vehicle
With more work being done on the go, thieves know that laptops, tablets and data storage devices are left in private vehicles. A device left in plain sight in a car increases the chances of theft exponentially. Assume that nothing of value is completely safeguarded when left in a vehicle, whether visible or hidden.