Integra Certified Document Destruction Achieves Certification

Integra Certified Document Destruction Achieves Certification

Integra Certified Document Destruction Achieves Recertification from the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID)

ELKHART, INDIANA, UNITED STATES - October 10^th, 2018 - Integra Certified Document Destruction (“Integra”) is proud to announce that it has met or exceeded all requirements set forth by the National Association for Information Destruction (“NAID”) to continue to be rated as an AAA Certified document destruction leader in its industry.

How Common is Identity Theft by Someone You Know?

When we think about identity theft, most of us picture someone we don’t know stealing our information from our mailbox or an online source or a faceless person hacking an entire system and gaining access to personal information.

What if this faceless, unknown person was someone you knew or even someone who lives in your house?

“Familiar fraud" occurs when a friend, extended family member or even a spouse, child or parent uses a close relationship for his or her own financial gain.”

Identity Theft in the Age of Social Media

We’ve increasingly heard the term “identity theft” and heard about how to protect ourselves from being a victim. Things like shredding junk mail and documents containing sensitive information, not giving out credit card information or social security numbers and securing your mail in a post office box. But social media is safe, right? Think again.

“Social media, in its present form, has been around a relatively short term and even though you probably can’t imagine living without it now, except for the last few decades, everyone did.”

What's the Cost of Identity Theft?

Identity thieves stole almost $17 billion in 2017. Although this figure is an unfathomable amount for most of us, it is merely the amount of actual money stolen and doesn’t take into consideration things like “time spent resolving identity theft issues and the emotional and psychological stresses caused by identity theft.”

“Since 2003, the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) has been surveying victims of identity theft to understand things like how long it takes them to find out they're a victim, what they experience, how long it takes them to fix the issues caused by identity theft and how much money it costs them to recover.

Is Shredding My Documents Really Necessary?

Check stubs, bank statements, account numbers, and actually any documents with personal information such as social security numbers or sensitive medical information on them.

What do these have in common? Every one of them could be used by identity thieves and should be disposed of by shredding.

Preparing Your Documents for Shredding

Most people realize that such things as binders or even binder clips can’t be left on sensitive material to be shredded. 

This holds true for personal shredders, of course, but professional shredding services as well. But are we doing too much to prepare documents for shredding with a professional shredding service.

What Type of Paper Shredder is the Best?

Although shredding or destroying sensitive documents has been around for decades, the necessity of shredding or having a professional document destruction service has gained popularity in the past few decades.

“As well as size and capacity, shredders are classified according to the method they use and the size and shape of the shreds they produce. 

What Time Will My Shredding Service Be Here?

Service providers generally work between the respectable hours of 8:00am to 5:00pm to give those receiving service some semblance of a normal workday.

Any cable, telephone, pool, or most any other service provider accommodate schedules by not only being there to service you between respectable hours, but possibly even giving you a smaller window of time during the day that they will be to your home to provide service.

If I Take My Documents to be Shredded, How Do I Know They Are Actually Destroyed?

Certified document destruction companies have standards and procedures in place that must be followed in order to be certified by the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID).

One of those policies is to provide each customer with a certificate of destruction to all customers who have sensitive information destroyed. 

Compliance...It's No Small Matter

August 1st, 2012 from the St. Louis Post Dispatch, “court documents containing personal information
of court respondents sat for weeks in a dumpster outside a Madison County building.”

August 2nd, 2012 from News Channel 7 in Spartanburg-Greenville, NC, “a tax preparer who closed her business three years ago says she unknowingly dumped boxes of records recently, some of which included personal information.”

Electronic Pickpocketing

How Do We Protect Ourselves From High-Tech Hackers?

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, 72.1 percent of American consumers in the United States owned at least 1 credit card in 2012. Modern thieves can purchase powerful scanners for less than $100 that can wirelessly retrieve your credit card information from up to 25 feet away! If you’re not scared yet, for just $300 more, they can buy a device that replicates your credit card.

What Makes An Expert? Glad You Asked...

On my TV, it’s usually shows like ESPN, The Weather Channel, HGTV, Discovery Channel and WGN, if the Cubs are playing.  Well, that was until my two college sons came home this summer and now it’s more like Swamp People, Storage Wars, Ball Boys and Pawn Stars, at least when they’re home. 

One of the things that fascinates me is when an item is brought in for sale and nobody really knows what it’s worth…..until, they call in an expert.

The Environmental Impact of Document Destruction

Many people have asked me over the years how recycling their shredded paper impacts the environment in a positive way.  Here is why that’s such a good question---we all know that the knowledge of a securely destroyed document is one bookend of the event, responsibly conserving our nation’s natural resources is the other.  

For example, when Integra Certified Document Destruction recently partnered with the Elkhart Chamber of Commerce and the Elkhart County Solid Waste Management District for the annual Clean Your Files Day, our goal for the 350 people that showed up was to provide the peace of mind that is inherent with destroying items like old files, tax records, cancelled checks and the like.   But, that’s only half of the story.

Should I Remove Rubber Bands Before I Put Paper Into the Document Destruction Bin?

Rubber Bands are short lengths of rubber and latex which are elastic in nature and formed in the shape of a circle. They are commonly used to hold multiple objects together. Objects like piles of paper that you ultimately place into the shred pile. 

Should you remove those rubber bands before shredding your documents? 

Myths About Professional Shredding Services Revealed

Since the introduction of professional shredding of sensitive documents within the past decade or so, many myths and misconceptions have arisen. The most common ones have been listed below, along with the facts surrounding them.

1.  Only large companies have confidential documents to shred - Any sized company risks identity theft and should, therefore, shred sensitive documents. Many more documents than we realize contains sensitive information and can be used in a malicious way.

Do I have To Remove Paper Clips, Binder Clips, And Staples?

Document destruction services are equipped with commercial or industrial-grade shredding machines
that are capable of not only shredding hundreds of sheets at a time, but these machines are able to handle such things as staples, paper clips, and even hard drives.

Why Should I Shred My Personal Documents?

Check stubs, bank statements, account numbers, and actually any documents with personal information such as social security numbers on them.  

What do these have in common? Every one of them could be used by identity thieves and should be disposed of by shredding. 

The amount of information obtained and damage done by someone only having your name, address, date of birth, and phone number is astonishing. Add your social security number, bank account number and your mother’s maiden name to the mix and you have a veritable recipe for disaster.

What Does AAA Certified Mean To Me?

The National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) has a certification program that was
developed by information security professionals and recognized by thousands of private and governmental organizations around the world.

What Type Of Shredder Is The Safest Against Identity Theft?

With Identity Theft affecting almost 10% of American adults each year, most people agree that destroying personal documents is the very best protection we can give ourselves. But what destruction method is best?