{"id":4895,"date":"2012-05-29T23:20:16","date_gmt":"2012-05-30T03:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rbach.net\/blog\/?p=4895"},"modified":"2022-12-30T11:34:37","modified_gmt":"2022-12-30T16:34:37","slug":"tips-to-securely-shred-unnecessary-files","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/tips-to-securely-shred-unnecessary-files\/","title":{"rendered":"Securely Shred Unnecessary Files"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lifeedited.com\/cut-paper-clutter-and-future-proof-documents\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-109499\" title=\"Securely Shred Unnecessary Files\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/paperstacks.jpg?resize=88%2C93&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Securely Shred Unnecessary Files\" width=\"88\" height=\"93\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/paperstacks.jpg?resize=143%2C150&amp;ssl=1 143w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/paperstacks.jpg?resize=72%2C75&amp;ssl=1 72w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/paperstacks.jpg?w=250&amp;ssl=1 250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 88px) 100vw, 88px\" \/><\/a>Organizations often hold on to <strong>files that are no longer needed.<\/strong> <em>Help Net Security<\/em> points out that these records <strong>take up valuable storage space<\/strong> and <strong>cost money<\/strong> that could otherwise be saved. Adhering to a <strong>retention schedule<\/strong> helps businesses run more efficiently to <strong>save time, money, and space<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gaebler.com\/Information-Privacy-Concerns-for-Web-Publishers.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-109502\" title=\"expedite the destruction of out-dated records\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/laptop_safe-e1571356663636-150x114.jpg?resize=110%2C83&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"expedite the destruction of out-dated records\" width=\"110\" height=\"83\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/laptop_safe-e1571356663636.jpg?resize=150%2C114&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/laptop_safe-e1571356663636.jpg?resize=75%2C57&amp;ssl=1 75w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/laptop_safe-e1571356663636.jpg?w=429&amp;ssl=1 429w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 110px) 100vw, 110px\" \/><\/a>\u201cWhile it may seem easier to keep everything, this is actually a losing strategy,\u201d Sarah Koucky, Senior Director of Security and Compliance for <a title=\"Cintas Document Management\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20220423095100\/https:\/\/www.cintas.com\/documentmanagement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Cintas Document Management<\/a> told the blog. \u201cSaving unnecessary records costs both time and money. By setting retention schedules and policies, organizations will remain compliant with government regulations and can expedite the destruction of outdated records to ensure a clutter-free system.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The author provided the following retention schedule as a general recommended guideline for certain files and documents. Consult your legal advisor for specific retention schedules for your business and records.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Accounts payable \u2013 7 years<\/li>\n<li>Accounts receivable \u2013 7 years<\/li>\n<li>Audit reports \u2013 Permanent<\/li>\n<li>Bank reconciliations \u2013 3 years<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Bank statement\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bank_statement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener wikipedia noreferrer\">Bank statements<\/a> \u2013 7 years<\/li>\n<li>Canceled checks \u2013 7 years<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Payment system\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Payment_system\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener wikipedia noreferrer\">Electronic <\/a>payment records\u00a0\u2013 7 years<\/li>\n<li>Employee files (ex-employees) \u2013 7 years<\/li>\n<li>Employment applications \u2013 3 years<\/li>\n<li>Employment taxes \u2013 7 years<\/li>\n<li>Expense reports \u2013 7 years<\/li>\n<li>Financial statements (annual) \u2013 Permanent<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Insurance policy\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Insurance_policy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener wikipedia noreferrer\">Insurance policies<\/a>\u2013 Permanent<\/li>\n<li>Leases\/Mortgages \u2013 Permanent<\/li>\n<li>Loan payment schedules \u2013 7 years<\/li>\n<li>Payroll\/Labor records \u2013 7 years<\/li>\n<li><a title=\"Purchase order\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Purchase_order\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener wikipedia noreferrer\">Purchase orders<\/a>\u2013 7 years<\/li>\n<li>Sales records \u2013 7 years<\/li>\n<li>Tax returns \u2013 Permanent<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>It is important to safely and securely dispose of all documents that are no longer needed. With identity theft and data breaches on the rise, doing so will <a title=\"Data loss prevention software\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20130323110750\/http:\/\/www.symantec.com\/cmp\/theme\/?cmp_id=information-identity-protection&amp;theme_id=data-loss-prevention\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">protect confidential information<\/a> from falling into the wrong hands according to the article.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.housebeautiful.com\/shopping\/best-paper-shredders\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-109504 size-medium\" title=\"use a secure shredding service\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/paper_shredded-e1571356738779-150x90.jpg?resize=150%2C90&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"use a secure shredding service\" width=\"150\" height=\"90\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/paper_shredded-e1571356738779.jpg?resize=150%2C90&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/paper_shredded-e1571356738779.jpg?resize=75%2C45&amp;ssl=1 75w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/paper_shredded-e1571356738779.jpg?w=273&amp;ssl=1 273w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a>Many organizations use a secure <a title=\"Paper shredder\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Paper_shredder\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener wikipedia noreferrer\">shredding service<\/a> that destroys business documents on-site on a scheduled basis. The author says these companies place secure storage containers in an accessible and identifiable location to make it safe and convenient for all employees to properly shred documents.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, <em>Help Net Security<\/em> indicates businesses that have a large volume of records with long retention rates but limited space can consider an off-site storage and imaging provider. This will free up space and make sure all electronic and physical records live in a secure environment. All documents can be retrieved on-demand and properly destroyed if required.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>rb-<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>I had a conversation with a client the other day about electronic and physical <a title=\"Retention period\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Retention_period\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener wikipedia noreferrer\">document retention<\/a>. The client was blase about a policy until we started to talk about FOIA and <a title=\"E-discovery\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20200404025251\/https:\/\/searchfinancialsecurity.techtarget.com\/definition\/electronic-discovery\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener symantec noreferrer\">eDiscovery<\/a> and the fact that if they had the documents they would have to produce it for the courts. While I am not a lawyer, I have been told that if there is a policy in place and enforced prior a request to produce a document, the courts will recognize the fact that a document is not available.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Now if you look at what the <a title=\"State of Michigan\" href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">State of Michigan<\/a> requires K-12 to keep (<a title=\"Records Retention and Disposal Schedule for Michigan Public Schools\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20220409005435\/https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/documents\/hal_mhc_rms_local_gs2_171482_7.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PDF<\/a>), some documents have to be kept for 30-50 years and others have to be permanently retained. This can certainly create real-estate as well as technical challenges.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Can these required documents be stored electronically? What happens when technologies change? In case you didn&#8217;t notice the floppy drive is dead. I noted its passing <a title=\"rbach.net\" href=\"http:\/\/rbachnet.wwwmi3-ss40.a2hosted.com\/index.php\/fdd-fades\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>. The <a title=\"UK National Archives\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalarchives.gov.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">UK&#8217;s National Archives<\/a> says (<a title=\"Selecting Storage Media for Long-Term Preservation\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalarchives.gov.uk\/documents\/selecting-storage-media.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PDF<\/a>) that USB drives and CD-Rs are the least reliable long-term storage media. They recommend <a title=\"Linear Tape-Open (LTO)\" href=\"http:\/\/searchstorage.techtarget.com\/definition\/Linear-Tape-Open\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LTO<\/a>, but what versions 1, 2,3, 4, 5? This locks you into a single backup server software.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em><a title=\"Ralph Bach\" href=\"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/new-resume\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ralph Bach<\/a>\u00a0has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his\u00a0<a title=\"Bach Seat\" href=\"https:\/\/rbach.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bach Seat<\/a> about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on <a class=\"broken_link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/rb48334\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">LinkedIn<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ralph.bach.14\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rbach48334\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Twitter<\/a>. Email the Bach Seat\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:\/\/bach.seat@gmail.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is important to safely &#038; securely dispose of all files no longer needed to protect against identity theft and data breaches<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2197,32,1270,1850,608,1268,4],"class_list":["post-4895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-security","tag-2197","tag-business","tag-data-loss-prevention-software","tag-document-retention","tag-identity-theft","tag-paper-shredder","tag-security"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4895"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129963,"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4895\/revisions\/129963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}