The Importance of a Certificate of Destruction

Across Europe in 2021, there were 1,243 publicly disclosed security incidents compared to 2020 which had 1,120. The likelihood of a data breach is currently higher than ever due to cyberattacks growing in number and sophistication, and some companies are struggling to keep up with the most up-to-date defences. The cost of responding to breaches also increases with the number of remote workers at a company; the Ponemon Institute report found that organisations that have adopted remote working spend an additional $1 million responding to data breaches. And with 48% of employees now working remotely post-pandemic compared to 30% re-pandemic, the higher percentage of remote working means that more money is being spent on responses to data breaches than before the pandemic.

This makes data security incredibly important as it serves to protect your company’s data from breaches and avoid paying penalties for incorrect data disposal. One way to increase your company’s data security is by shredding your confidential documents. This offers multiple benefits and is an important part of ensuring privacy and confidentiality of your company, employees and clients.

Why Shred Confidential Documents

Shredding your unwanted documents provides your company and customers with several benefits:

1. It de-clutters the office, clearing the space of unneeded files and documents while making room for newer, relevant paperwork. This will increase the efficiency with which you can organise and reference your files, increasing the rate of productivity.
2. Shredding also lowers the risk of identity fraud. Did you know that 47% of companies worldwide have experienced identity fraud in the past 24 months? Criminals can take information from documents like receipts, invoices and bank statements, so destroying all unneeded documents will help to ensure the security of your company and clients’ data.
3. The law surrounding information privacy and security has become more scrupulous since General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) have been put in place. Therefore, shredding your confidential documents will help your company to follow data protection laws, aiding in minimising the chances of a data breach.
4. Using a shredding service is far more secure and time-efficient than using your own company shredder. A company shredder can be costly to repair if damaged and actually increases the risk of data breaches if the destruction of important documents is left to the responsibility of untrained employees.

Utilising a paper shredding company provides major benefits to your company. An additional benefit of working alongside Shred-it for the destruction of your confidential documents is that we give you a certificate of destructionfollowing the destruction of confidential information.

What is a Certificate of Destruction?

A data destruction certificate is a formal document that provides proof that all the company’s confidential information has been securely destroyed. It also describes the method and process of destruction, and in the case of certified hard drive destruction, a list of the devices that held confidential data that have been destroyed. It is important to obtain a data destruction certificate for three reasons; firstly, they are presented to ensure that the correct method of destruction has been used by service providers in order to comply with relevant data security laws. This helps guarantee that confidential data cannot be recovered. Secondly, a destruction certificate also serves to give you peace of mind that data has been securely destroyed and the risk of a data breach has been minimised. And thirdly, complying with data protection laws is critical to a company’s reputation and can result in heavy fines if not done with diligence.

When you partner with Shred-it, we always provide a destruction certificate, whether that is for certified hard drive destruction or confidential paper disposal. Therefore, you will reap all the benefits listed above with any of our industry leading services. And with thirty years of experience in the field, Shred-it are reliable experts in the security practices and procedures of keeping your information safe.

If you’re looking for a stress-free way to get rid of confidential data, Shred-it will sustainably dispose of it for you and provide you with a data destruction certificate for your own peace of mind. Get in touch today to see how we can help keep your business secure from data breaches.