Why a "Destroy-All" is the Best Approach to Shredding
Eliminating Security Gaps In Your Destruction Policy
No company would allow every employee to use its checkbook or offer them the choice of shotting off the Internet firewall.
However, as ludicrous as these ideas sound, they are not much different from allowing each employee to decide what should or should not be shredded.
Simply directing employees to discard information that “they” feel is confidential jeopardizes the organization's future. If they make the wrong decision about what is and isn't safely destroyed, or if they are distracted, too busy, or too sluggish to do the right thing, the consequences could be disastrous. There are numerous studies that demonstrate the severe effects of data breaches (defined as any illegal access), including their financial impact.
The heart of the "employee discretion" problem is providing them with several disposal alternatives for discarding paper. The better way is to give them only one disposal option that assures the material will be securely destroyed.
Every piece of paper, including mail, notes, reports, drafts of letters, and proposals, may include sensitive or confidential information. If an employee is given the option of putting these goods in the trash, the recycling bin, or the destruction receptacle, they may make the wrong decision. The organization's data security is not only determined by their judgment, but also by their state of mind. Did they get a horrible night's sleep, are they hungover, tired, or even disgruntled? Are they simply too preoccupied with their work to worry about selecting the correct bin?
A data leak isn't the only issue with having several disposal routes for paper and electronic devices. It also undermines future challenges to the integrity of regulatory compliance and jeopardizes intellectual property legal rights. All the lawyer, auditor, or regulator needs to do is ask, "How can you tell the court you're sure it was properly destroyed when you gave every employee the option of not destroying it?"
The solution to this problem is to eliminate employee discretion by creating a single "destruction-by-default" disposal policy that applies to all media. Many groups are already doing so. They have sensibly determined that the risk and related cost of giving employees control over what is and is not destroyed is unreasonable.
In this new model, all of the organization's discarded media is considered confidential and deserving of shredding, which is more than likely the case.
Contact Pacific Northwest Shredding today to learn how we can help!
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