3 Paper Shredder Purchasing Mistakes

3 Mistakes Made When Deciding to Purchase a Home/Small Office Paper Shredding Machine.

 

Time and time again I get customers down at the shredding facility who complain about how they burned out one, two, or even three shredders trying to get all their shredding complete. Even if you could get away with buying a shredder for $40 each, that still potentially comes out to $120 in burned out shredders.

 

Here’s what I’ve determined are the three common mistakes people make when buying an office shredder.

 

Mistake #1: Miscalculate the size of their job

 

Just about every last paper shredder you can buy at the store is not designed to handle more than about 100 or so sheets of paper PER DAY – and that’s only if you get into the $150 to $300 price range.

 

These Paper Shredders are designed only for extremely low volumes of paper shredding.

 

Basically, we are talking about shredding the stuff that comes in the daily mail.  Anything more than that and you might as well pack a lunch because you’re going to have a pretty long and frustrating time investment ahead of you.

 

Mistake #2: Assume “Theoretical Throughput” equals to “Working Throughput”

 

I find it extremely comical when I see a paper shredder that advertises 8 sheets of paper per pass and sells for only $69.95. I’m sure some technician working for the manufacturer was able to get 8 sheets of paper to pass through the shredder and successfully shred in one pass.

 

However, you must be aware that this shredder was not designed to continually shred 8 sheets at a time at a continuous rate for a very long time. In order to get that kind of throughput, you’re going to have to pay a lot more for a shredder.

 

I have a “small” industrial shredder at our facility that can take somewhere between 70 to 80 sheets per pass and can keep up that pace for 8 hours a day. But this machine runs upwards of $40,000 new. In theory, I could buy 10 of these 8 sheets at a time shredders and get the same throughput for just about $700.

 

But, as you can see… there’s a massive disconnect from theory and working throughput when it comes to these store bought machines. Buying 10 of these office shredders just wouldn’t cut it for my business (pardon the pun).

 

50% Throughput Rule: In my best estimation, your best bet for determining working throughput is about 50% of what is stated by the manufacturer.

 

Mistake #3: Don’t understand “Duty Cycle”

 

Every paper shredder you can buy from the store has a “Duty Cycle.” Otherwise known as an On/Off run time. This is the amount of time that that shredder can run continuously before it must be shut off.

 

From a sample of 12 paper shredders, I found an average on time of 9.34 minutes with a following off time of 60.84 minutes.

 

That means, on average, you can get about 10 minutes of continuous shredding before you have to stop and let the machine cool down for about an hour.

 

Remember that shredder for $69.95. You can only continuously run it for 2 minutes before you have to turn it off for 30 minutes.

 

As you can see, if you have a large amount that needs shredding, you’re going to have to spend most of your time letting the machine cool down as opposed to actual shredding and that will lead to a very long project indeed.

 

Here’s my research:

 

I recently pulled the specification on 12 common Home/Small Office Shredders and performed some analysis on what it would take to shred 5000 sheets of paper (1 case of copy paper) when using the correct Duty Cycle, the listed number of sheets per pass, and 10 passes per minute.

 

These shredders ranged in price from $69.95 to $299.99.

 

I also ran the same simulation using 50% of the manufacturers listed throughput per pass and 5 passes per minute (I reduced the number of passes per minute in order to take into account staple removal and other prep work) – which is what I think is closer to reality.

 

Here’s what I found:

 

VERY BEST: The very best shredding machine would shred 5,000 sheets of paper in 1.38 hours. It would’ve taken the same shredder 5.52 hours to shred those same 5,000 sheets if I applied the 50% Throughput Rule and five passes per minute. The listed price for this shredder was $249.99.

 

THE WORST: The shredding machine that performed the worst under this simulation shredded 5,000 sheets in 66.17 hours – and that’s before I apply the 50% throughput rule. When I apply the 50% throughput rule and limit the number of passes per minute to only five, it took a staggering 266.17 hours to shred the 5,000 sheets. And this wasn’t the cheapest shredder I looked at! The price for this shredder was $89.99.

 

Now here’s the real kicker…

 

If you were to pay someone $8.00 an hour to shred 5,000 sheets of paper, that 266.17 hours translates into $2,135.67 when you include the cost of the shredder along with sales tax.

 

The “Very Best” shredder would cost you $66.78 if you paid someone $8.00 an hour along with the cost of the shredder.

 

In the absolute most perfect world, where the shredder performs at the manufacturers listed specifications and you can pull off ten passes per minute, the cost of 5,000 sheets is still $33.69.

 

All in all, buying a paper shredding machine for your home or office can be a very logical and cost effective choice if you understand some of the very basic constraints involved in using these machines. However, if your requirements exceed simply shredding just a few sheets of paper a day, you may want to consider your options.

 

Until next time…

 

Keep Totally Secure,

 

Mike

Head Shredding Guy

Total Secure Shredding, Inc.

 

10 Identity Fraud Prevention Tips

Hey Folks,

 

Mike Here... 

 

Identity Fraud (also commonly known as Identity Theft), is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States that affected more than 11 million adults in 2009.

 

We are talking about a crime that totals $54 Billion annually.

 

That's not "Chump Change" but there are some very simple precautions you can take in order to greatly reduce your chances of becoming a victim of I.D. Theft.

 

Here are 10 tips I put together to help you protect yourself, your family, and your business from the dangers of I.D. Fraud:

 

1. Properly shred or otherwise destroy all old bank statements, cancelled checks, old tax returns and other documents containing sensitive personal information prior to disposing of them. Personal information you should be on the lookout for is an individual’s First Name, or First Initial and Last Name linked with any of the following data elements:
   • Social Security Number
   • Driver’s License number or State Identification Card Number
   • Account Number or Credit or Debit Card Number, in combination with any required security code, access code, or password that would permit access to an individual’s financial account.
2. Be extremely cautions of anyone calling and asking to verify your information. Even if the person says they are from your bank, utility company, or other service provider. The safest bet is to not provide any information (especially social security and credit card or bank account numbers) and tell the person you’ll call them back using the phone number that is listed on a previous statement, invoice, or other correspondence. If the person on the phone gets upset and tries to push the issue, hang up immediately.
3. When recycling electronics, make sure they have been properly sanitized before disposal. This includes computer hard drives and other memory capable devices such as smart phones.
4. Do not email sensitive personal information (including credit card information). Most email is not encrypted and can be accessed if the sending or receiving computer has been breached by “Malware” (Trojans or Key Logging Software).
5. Do not keep sensitive passwords and account information on your computer, laptop, or phone unless they have been properly secured. One free program you can use to securely store this type of information is “Keypass” http://keepass.info/
6. Never give out your ATM PIN to anyone… Not even to close friends or relatives. Once you give your PIN away you are basically authorizing that person to have free access to your account. At that point, there’s not much that can be done if that person decides to take more than originally planned.
7. Be cautious about online shopping. Only shop with recognized vendors that have good on-line reputations with proven secure websites. One thing to look for is that the webpage you’re putting your credit card information on has been encrypted. Once you get as far as putting in your credit card information, take a look in the website address window and make sure the website is prefaced by https. The “S” in “HTTPS” stands for secure and ensures a SSL/TLS protocol is in place to provide encryption so that no “eavesdropper” or “man-in-the-middle” can intercept your credit card information.
8. Install an antivirus and malware software on each of your computers. A good antivirus program is called “Avast.” You can download a free version of at http://www.avast.com/lp-upgrade-4-5-free#. If you’re looking for a Malware program, checkout a program called “MalwareBytes”. Learn more about MalwareBytes and download a free version at http://www.malwarebytes.org/. And Finally, one of the best methods for preventing unauthorized access to your computer is to Update, Update, Update. It’s critical that you make sure all your software has been updated. Many times, these updates patch potential vulnerabilities hackers are using to access your computer.
9. Review monthly checking, savings, and credit cards statements for unauthorized transactions. Even a relatively small monthly transaction can add up over many months or years.
10. Perform an annual review your credit reports from the three credit reporting agencies so see if any unauthorized lines of credit have been opened. The Fair Credit Reporting Act guarantees you can access your credit report free of charge every 12 months from each of the three credit reporting agencies – Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion (read more at http://www.ftc.gov/freereports). The ONLY authorized site to get your free credit reports is www.annualcreditreport.com.

Feel free to comment below about any tips you may have that can help prevent I.D. Fraud.

 

Until Next Time...

 

Keep Totally Secure,

 

Mike Krauss
Head Shredding Guy

Total Secure Shredding, Inc.

 

Neighborhood Watch - ID Theft

“Oh, who are the people in your neighborhood?

In your neighborhood?

In your neighborhood?”

- Sesame Street

 

Hey Folks,

 

Unless you have young kids, it’s probably been a while since you’ve watched Sesame Street.

 

But, as Grouchy as Oscar is, there’s a good chance the individuals that are going through your trash are not nearly as harmless as good old Oscar the Grouch.

 

Even more important, the nicer the neighborhood you live in, the more valuable your trash is to those folks who like going through it.

 

Time and time again, I hear stories of neighborhood watches being on the lookout for individuals going through the trash bins. And let’s face facts: We’re talking about higher priced neighborhoods… and you know who you are.

 

It comes down to the potential value of the items you’re throwing away.

 

You remember the old saying: “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”

 

Well there’s an extremely good chance that  a million dollar home is throwing away something that has a much higher “Treasure” value than lower priced neighborhoods.

 

And although it’s not a big deal for someone to take away that old lampshade you tossed out…

 

It is a big deal when you see that same individual pulling single sheets of paper out of your trash!

 

When that person is pulling out sheets of paper, smoothing them out, folding them up, and sticking them in their pocket, you can be certain that those papers are not being collected for their recycling value.

 

I think the inclination is to underestimate the ability of a garbage picker to use your personal data for their personal financial gain.

 

The thing is… Most identity fraud is still accomplished by accessing personal information through low tech methods such as someone going through your trash, giving your ATM PIN to a close friend or family member, or just leaving sensitive information lying around your home or office where someone can easily access it.

 

ID Fraud is often a crime of open opportunity and not necessarily that of hardened criminals. Don’t get me wrong… there are professional, high tech, I.D. Theft Criminals who are out to separate you from your money.

 

But for folks going through tough times, an old canceled check is an opportunity just waiting to be taken advantage of.

 

Your best option is to reduce and eliminate these opportunities for those who may want to take advantage of them.

 

Make sure to properly destroy sensitive personal information, either on paper or electronic, before disposal. And when in doubt, your best bet is to ensure proper destruction instead of taking the risk.

 

This is truly a time when an “Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure.”

 

Keep an eye on my blog in the next few days as I’ll be putting out a list of 10 items you can do to protect your identity.

 

Until then…

 

Keep Totally Secure,

 

Mike Krauss

 

CEO & President
Total Secure Shredding, Inc.

Office: (619) 295-5474

www.TotalSecureShredding.com

Hire a Paper Shredding Company

If There’s no PAIN…

There’s no GAIN.

What’s Your P.I.T.A. Factor?

Hey Folks…

Mike here.

I often run into people who ask the following…

“I didn’t even know there were such things as shredding companies… Do you have a lot of competition?”

The direct answer is YES… There are quite a few paper shredding companies you can choose from. (Anyone that does a Google search for paper shredding can easily witness this fact!)

However, what’s even more important (at least to me), is the first part of that question: “I didn’t even know that there were such things as shredding companies…”

For the most part, the reason someone would say this, is that they’ve never had any reason to consider the need for a professional paper shredding company.

1. They don’t realize that I.D. Fraud can happen to them and consequently they don’t shred anything;
2. Or, they don’t have that much to shred and their $50.00 home paper shredder works perfectly for the couple of sheets they do have to shred every week.

I won’t go into group 1. (If they’re not worried about I.D. Fraud and are not shredding… There’s a good chance they won’t be on this website anyway!)

So if you’re in the second group, the question is: When should you consider a professional shredding company?

This differs from person to person, but basically, but it comes down to your individual P.I.T.A. Factor (Pain In The Ass Factor).

If you’re like me, I don’t sort out my mail every day and let it stack up. After a few months, I usually have a pretty good pile sitting on the kitchen counter and the subsequent shredding job exceeds my own personal P.I.T.A. Factor. Fortunately for me, I get to bring the pile to work.

My Dad on the other hand, doesn’t understand why anyone would need to bring their things to a paper shredding company. (Thanks Dad!) He carefully goes through his mail every day; sorts out the stuff that can just be thrown away, and then proceeds to shred the important stuff. This process nowhere touches his P.I.T.A. Factor… actually… he kind of seems to like doing it!

So in the end, when you’re looking at your stack of stuff that needs to be shredded, and you say to yourself, “This is going to be a real PAIN!”, then at that point you know you’ve hit your P.I.T.A. Factor.

It might be just a handful of paper or it could be a mountain of boxes that have been sitting around in storage since the 20th Century!

Only you can decide whether the PAIN of your individual shredding project exceeds the cost of having someone else do it.

If you’re starting to hit your Paper Shredding P.I.T.A Factor, set your mind at ease, there’s a quick, convenient, easy, and affordable option available to you.

Until next time…

Keep Totally Secure,

Mike Krauss

CEO & President

Total Secure Shredding, Inc.

mkrauss@TotalSecureShredding.com

(619) 295-5474

www.TotalSecureShredding.com

Paper Shredding Service San Diego

This closely guarded Industry Secret could leave you wide open to Identity Theft.

Discover what the competition won’t tell you...

 

Hey Folks,

 

Mike here…

 

I’ve been thinking about this for a few weeks now…

 

It’s something that came up over lunch with a person in my mastermind group.

 

She was getting to know more about my business and asked me what certifications and licenses I needed in order to get started in the Shredding Industry.

 

I paused for a moment and responded, “Well… Actually… There’s no certificate or government license that’s required to start a shredding company… Outside of a regular business that is.”

 

My friend looked at me confused for a second and then replied, “So someone could be handling all these sensitive documents and there’s absolutely no guarantee that they are making sure everything is getting shredded properly?”

 

I responded, “Unfortunately, that’s pretty much the case.”

 

And that's why it’s critical that consumers perform their due diligence when selecting a shredding company.

 

However, one of  the biggest problems is that many customers ignore whether or not a paper shredding service is qualified to securely destroy their documents but rather choose a paper shredding service only on the basis of price.

 

This has resulted in a multitude of new shredding companies that have popped up to undercut the competition only to make a quick buck. The reason they can undercut many of their competitors is that they are often times taking shortcuts on insurance, employee background checks, uniforms, or some other industry specific requirement.

 

Some of these shortcuts may seem superficial, but from my standpoint, if an organization, built around securing your documents, doesn’t look professional, how can you, I, or anyone else be sure sufficient security  precautions are  being taken when it comes to handling your documents.

 

The Bottom Line Is:

 

There is absolutely no governmental oversight of the document destruction industry.

 

And when it comes to the old saying, “Buyer Beware”, be especially aware when it comes to choosing a document destruction vendor.

 

So what is the average consumer to do?

 

That’s why I put together a “Paper Shredding Buyers Guide” that anyone can freely download

 

In this guide I open the door a little bit further into what the paper shredding industry is all about and to clear away some of the mystery that is hanging around out there. I even go as far as putting in some real money saving insider tips that only those deep inside the industry even know about. It walks you through exactly what to be looking for and what exactly to ask when you’re out there evaluating a potential shredding vendor.

 

As far as I can tell, this is a first of its kind.

 

Once you read through this guide, my hope is that you’ll be able to make a quality decision about choosing a paper shredding service.

 

So please, I posted the link below. Take a look into what this shredding thing is all about (I even put in two work sheets that you can fill out to help you with the decision process).

 

Click this link to check out the FREE guide: Paper Shredding Buyers Guide

 

Once you’ve taken a look and if you still have a few questions, you can always give us a call so we can get any other little items you have answered as well.

 

After all, that’s what we’re about, helping you with your information destruction needs… We are a service company.

 

So until next time.

 

Keep totally secure,

Mike Krauss

CEO & President

Total Secure Shredding, Inc.

mkrauss@TotalSecureShredding.com

(619) 295-5474

www.TotalSecureShredding.com

 

P.S. Once you've taken a look at the "Paper Shredding Buyers' Guide" I put together, feel free to leave me a note in the comments section of this blog entry... I sure would like to hear what you think.

Hard Drive Shredding San Diego - digital copiers

It’s amazing how much information that is held on old hard drives… Information you’ve long forgotten the existence and importance of.

Just a few weeks ago I resurrected an old PC that first was used in my home and then somewhere along the line migrated itself to the office.

 

During the time at the office, it had been kicked, shuffled, tipped over, and generally neglected.

 

But I had a need for another computer around the shop, and when faced with the cost of a new computer in relation for the need I had, I thought I might give the old computer a try.

 

So I hooked up a monitor, keyboard and mouse and fired it up.

 

To my surprise it started up perfectly fine and loaded up windows without a single problem.

 

But besides my amazement that the computer loaded up, I was even more surprised at all the old information that was still on the hard drive.

 

I completely forgot that this was the computer that I was using when I started Total Secure Shredding.

 

It had QuickBooks Files, old Quicken files (personal financial information), plenty of Word and Excel files, plus multiple email programs that were not password protected and which had a ton of old emails on them.

 

The moral is that these “Old” computers do have some very substantial information on them than may be putting your business or family at risk of Identity Theft.

 

And, as you may have seen in recent days, this also goes for just about every copier that has been built since 2002.

 

In April, CBS News broke the story that many copiers sent out for resale have not had their hard drives sanitized or replaced.

 

Of the four copiers that were picked at random to meet certain price and volume specifications, every last one of them had hard drives jammed full of confidential information. Adding insult to injury, two of them came from two different Buffalo NY police departments with one still having documents on the glass. One of the other was from a New York Construction company and contained design plans while the other was from a New York insurance company.

 

All that was needed to get documents of the copier from the insurance company was to hit “PRINT”. The result was “300 pages of individual medical records.” Current HIPAA regulations mandate that the information that was found (Drug Prescriptions, Blood Test Results, & Cancer Diagnosis) must be properly destroyed prior to disposal.

 

This dilemma can even be extended to some printers.

 

There are many “Enterprise” level printers that also contain hard drives that must be sanitized or destroyed before they leave your premises.

 

I personally research and tracked down at least 50 printer models that could contain hard drives. Not all of these appear to come standard with a hard drive but are optional. All that means is that you need to physically verify whether or not your printer has a hard drive.

 

So whether it’s your PC, your Laptop, your Printer, or your Copier, digital information is all around us and a permanent part of our society…

 

And precautions have to be make to ensure all that digital information is properly handled upon disposal – just as important as getting all your sensitive paper documents shredded.

 

As far as my old computer goes…

 

It turns out that some of the information on the hard drive got corrupted somehow and now the thing will no longer boot up. Whether or not I ever get the thing working again, one thing you can be sure on, I’ll make sure that hard drive is properly destroyed before it gets thrown out.

 

Until next time.

 

Keep Total Secure,

 

Mike

 

P.S. The reason the data on my old hard drive was corrupted was because of a USB Wireless Network “Thumb Drive” Device.  During the troubleshooting process to figure out what went wrong, I found out that the wireless device’s memory was able to hold the pass code to my networks wireless router.

 

When I plugged it into the replacement computer, it automatically accessed my network – not good.

 

So please, take a second look at anything electronic. Who knows what information it might contain?

Beware of Hackers!

Hey Folks,

Mike here...

Let's face it... when it comes to surfing the Internet it can very much seem like the "Wild Wild West" even to those of use who consider themselves "Computer Savvy."

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of taking part in an extremely enlightening interview with Dan Libby of Digital Forensics, Inc. - a local San Diego Expert in Computer Forensics and Information Systems Security.

Dan spent 25 years in government service with a Major Intelligence Agency (If I told ya I'd have to kill ya!) and is a wealth of information when it comes to the various security risks that are lurking out there on the Internet.

I know this interview definitely opened my eyes to a few items with regard to securing your computer.

I was under the impression that Adobe PDF's were extremely secure and I made sure to attach PDF's to emails I send out whenever possible.

But Dan noted that Adobe PDF's have been ranked as the #1 Vulnerability by the US Government when it comes hackers being able to access high profile networks... including those of the government!

Once a hacker injects a code into a PDF and you consequently open that PDF (or any document), the hacker has the opportunity to take control of your computer and add it to the hacker's "Zombie Network."

Your IP Address can then be sold on the Black Market to "Spammers" who can then Send Spam Emails All Night Long... Using Your Computer!

Did you know that over 90% of all spam sent in the world is sent from people who don't know they are sending it?

Dan says that most important thing you can do to prevent the hacking of your computer is to "Update, Update, Update!"

Once a threat has been identified, software companies will take measures to mitigate that threat by providing updates to their software.

"If you don't update update, you're running software with known security vulnerabilities."

Here's a few things you can do right now to help eliminate computer hacking threats:

• Update all your programs. When a programs notifies you that there is an update available, take the time to download and install the update. It's typically a very simple process with the software walking you through.
• Turn off your computer at night. Dan says, "They can't get to you if your not on the network."
• Install a firewall on your computer either hardware or software based.
• Install anti-Virus and anti-Trojan software and make sure it's updated.
• Keep a look out for suspicious email and it's definitely a good idea to not open any email attachments that you're not expecting.

To listen to the entire interview, click the link below:

Click Here To Listen

Until next time.

Keep Totally Secure,

Mike Krauss
Total Secure Shredding, Inc.
(619) 295-5474

P.S. I'm Co-Hosting a Radio Show so keep tuned every Saturday morning from 9am to 10am. To listen live Click Here and then click on "Studio A".