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How Using A Professional Shredding Service Can Benefit Your Business

Whether it’s paper, clothing or unwanted goods, shredding is a must for securely protecting sensitive items and business data. Client confidentiality should be a top business priority within your organisation but how can it be carried out efficiently when you have so many other priorities to focus on? Take a look at our article below to find out how outsourcing your shredding requirements can help your business.

  1. Save time and money

Why paid your skilled employees to stand there and shred for hours when they could be generating revenue for your business? Internal shredding routines are extremely time-consuming and have to be maintained on a daily or weekly basis. For example, shredding a single document can take several minutes and you have to be mindful of factors such as:

–    Straightening sheets of paper

–    Removing any paper clips or staples

–    Disposing of the shredded paper

–    Cleaning up any excess paper, paperclips or staples

Furthermore, you also have to take into consideration the cost of maintaining an internal shredding routine and often enough, this is a lot more expensive than outsourcing your shredding requirements. A small selection of managing your shredding in-house include:

–    Purchasing shredders

–    Buying disposal bags

–    Utility expenses

Sound familiar? Outsourcing your shredding can save an extensive amount of money for your business. Quills, can arrange a personalised audit of your office needs and provide a quotation which includes the frequency, number of bins and what you’ll be shredding.  There are no installation charges and the bin hire and replacement bags are free too!

 

2. Reduce the legal risk

With legislation such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA) all in full swing, it’s crucial that you keep client data confidential and safe during the disposal process.

Our secure shredding service is NAID AAA certified meaning that all destruction of your documents complies with the privacy protection policies outlined in the above legislation. In addition to this, we also provide a certificate of destruction so that you can be sure your data is safe in the right hands.

 

3. Maintain your businesses reputation

Reputation. One of the most important assets of a business. It’s very simple for your businesses confidential documents to get in the wrong hands and just like that, a data breach can happen and cause extreme worry and distrust.

When using a professional shredding service, all paper, media and products are collected and destroyed safely and securely. Constant monitoring, full CCTV coverage and an official certification of destruction are provided after every collection which means you can relax and focus on the more important things in your company.

 

4. Consider mobile shredding Services

If you’re considering outsourcing your shredding requirements but still have a concern about your information leaving the premises, then explore the possibility of using an on-site mobile shredding service. This ensures that all shredding is carried out on-site and gives you an opportunity to closely supervise what shredding is carried out and have absolute security.

Quills offer both on-site and off-site shredding service and can collect and shred data at your home or office. For more information, take a look at our secure data destruction brochure. 

 

5. Efficient recycling process

It’s well known that recycling has a positive impact on our environment but be careful as time and time again shredded material is often stolen with the hope of gaining access to confidential data.

Outsourced shredding services ensure that your personal information is secure at all times. All shredded goods are still recycled but without comprising confidentiality as it takes place in a locked and private building with constant surveillance and security.

To find out how Quills Secure Shredding Service can benefit your business, get in touch today and request your free quote. Alternatively, take a look at our latest brochure for some more information on our data destruction service.

What is archiving and why should I be on top of it?

There’s a lot of jargon surrounding the term ‘archiving’ and you may ask, what actually is it? In fact, it’s a term that employers and businesses shouldn’t only be aware of, but completely understand.

In summary, archiving is a vital records management process and over here at Quills, we know how valuable a well organised approach can be for your business. So, take a look at this handy guide to find out more about archiving and why you should be on top of it.

What exactly is archiving?

First things first, what is archiving? Search Data Backup defines the process of archiving as “moving data that is no longer actively used to a separate storage device for long-term retention.” It’s important to note that archived data can be made active again at any point. This is a massive benefit for businesses who can therefore retrieve any necessary information at short notice.

Why should you archive your files?

As data is continuing to grow, archiving data is becoming more important than ever. If you want to save your business time and money, then having an effective archive strategy in place is necessary.

As well as adding value to your business, archiving the right data can save your business a huge amount of time and money. In the past, a number of companies stored all their data in their ‘primary storage’ system as they were afraid that their information may get misplaced or lost whilst being archived. Some employers also didn’t understand what was involved in the process of archiving data and were therefore very hesitant to do it.

Today, it is becoming more obvious that an effective archive strategy is key for businesses who handle large amounts of data. For example, they may end up losing information as a result. With an effective strategy in place, organisations can easily search for, access and maintain data that is relevant and adds value to the business.

In addition to the above, your business can also save money on expensive primary storage. Not only will you reduce the amount of data in the primary storage, you’ll also improve the overall backup performance. Therefore, you can manage your time more efficiently and deal with the documents that you need to access on a regular basis.

So, you now know what archiving is and why you should do it; but what’s involved in the archiving process?

When you archive files, they are stored and managed within optimum conditions to minimise the risk involved in the process and also to ensure that files are always protected. Likewise, scan on demand and scan back services, as well as traditional based document storage and retrieval, scan back distribution means you can access your files wherever you are, whenever you need them – quicker, cheaper and greener access to your company data.

How can Quills help me with archiving files?

Quills can provide you with a quicker, cheaper and greener way of accessing your company information. Our dedicated account supervisors can provide you with knowledge and support throughout the entire archiving process, as well as offer nationwide coverage with same/next day delivery.

Some of our key services include:

• Workflow, EDRM, digitisation and scan back
• Storage of files and boxes
• Storage of wills, deeds and original documents
• Storage of digital media
• Consultancy including best practices, Record Management policies and retention policies
• Special projects including inventory, purging, back scanning, filing audits, filing relocation and rationalisation
• Nationwide coverage offering same day/next working day delivery

If you require any more information regarding archiving and want to know how Quills can help your business, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

5 Ways To Prepare Your Office For GDPR (Infographic)

As of May 25th, the GDPR is now in full effect. However, this doesn’t mean you should stop with all of your GDPR preparations; if anything, it means you need to be triple checking that they’re firmly in place.

When you’re working in an office, there is usually a lot of data floating around – and a lot of potential data breaches. A lot of companies think that their GDPR compliance stops at re-opting in campaigns, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Today, we’re going to share 5 ways to ensure your office is GDPR compliant.

1. Encrypted USBs

Data will, at times, need to leave the office. People may want to work remotely or files may need to be taken to show to clients. However, data shouldn’t be taken off-site without protection.

Encrypted USBs ensure that all files are securely stored and password protected, meaning that they are inaccessible to the wrong eyes – even if you lose the USB.

We’ve written an entire post detailing the various features of encrypted USBs and their benefits here.

2. Shredders

Most offices will print some form of physical data throughout their opening hours . . . but where do these documents go when you don’t need them anymore? To ensure the data is securely destroyed, you need to invest in shredding. There are solutions available where third parties can come and collect your documents and shred them on your behalf, or (if your office has the budget) you could invest in a secure shredder for your office.

If you’d like to read more about our shredding solutions, feel free to review our full shredding service list.

3. Archiving

Not all data can be destroyed – so you need to figure out a safe and secure way to store data you want to keep. Archiving can be the perfect solution.

Quills provide complete archiving solutions; see if we can help you.

4. Secure Printers

Did you know that printers are one of the office’s most vulnerable openings for hackers? Think about how much confidential data can pass through printers (HR scanning things like passports, faxed documents, printed documents) – just waiting for someone to steal it.

Last year, a viral “prank” made the internet rounds when a hacker tapped into over 150,000 printers and printed ASCII art as a warning to highlight how vulnerable printers are.

Image result for printers hacked

While this hacker had good intentions, many won’t.

We offer “Quills Secure Software“; a print solution that will help to keep your printers secure.

5. Privacy Screens

Have you ever considered visual hacking? It may sound like some sci-fi film tech, but it’s actually happening right now, no tech involved. Visual hacking is just when people are able to look at your screen and read your data – and it happens more often than you’d think.

55% of professionals work in a high-traffic area at least once a week (coffee shop, hotel lounge, library, internet cafe, etc.) where their screens are visible to passers by.

Privacy screens make your screen unreadable to anyone sitting at an angle. You have clear vision of your screen, but anyone sitting next to you will have their sight obstructed.

We hope this brief post gave you some inspiration for ways to tighten your office’s data security. If you’re a customer of ours and are wondering what we can do for you, feel free to get in contact.

Call: 0845 078 0324   Email: sales@quillsuk.co.uk   Live chat: www.quillsuk.co.uk

Your Business Needs Encrypted USBs: Stay GDPR compliant in and out of the office

Imagine if a USB with all of Heathrow’s security plans was accidentally dropped on the street and picked up by a random passer-by. What kind of things do you think would be on it? CCTV camera locations, armed-police officer shift patterns, secret entrances . . . the security measures for the queen? All of those things and more. Such a massive breach could be disastrous.

What if we told you it happened last year?

A non-password protected USB containing Heathrow Airport’s security information was found last October containing over 174 confidential files. Maps, plans, videos; details about terrorist attacks and plans in place to stop future ones. Fortunately, the man who discovered the USB handed it into the authorities . . . but what if he hadn’t? What if the wrong person had found it?

Heathrow is the busiest airport in Britain – and the 7th busiest airport in the world. In 2017, there were over 78 million passengers that travelled through Heathrow.

Keeping your data safe, even if it isn’t a matter of national security like Heathrow Airport, is essential. Not only to ensure your clients and employees’ privacy is being upheld – but also to make sure your business remains GDPR compliant.

Businesses know they need to implement security in the office . . . but are companies overlooking the fact that many employees are field based or travel and work on the go.  As you can imagine, losing a USB flash drive full of your clients’ private information would highly violate the GDPR. So how do you keep compliant? Fortunately, there’s an easy way to make sure that your data is protected on the go.

Encrypted USBs

A simple way to protect your files when in transit is to use encrypted USBs. These are USBs that come with built-in encryption software and password protection and will even shut down your laptop if left inactive for a period of time.

Did you know that 66% of SMBs will go out of business or shut down for at least a day after a data breach? This is before the GDPR; with such large fines now in place, how many companies do you think will survive?

Unfortunately, data breaches and cyber attacks are a fact of life in the digital age – and SMBs are a prime target. In fact, 43% of cyber-attacks are aimed at SMBs. Your business needs to be taking as many precautions as possible.

The USB We Recommend: Safexs

Here at Quills, we provide an extensive range of encrypted USBs – but we highly recommend the Safexs range.

Safexs Protector 3.0 has been designed and developed within the EU specifically for government agencies to help reduce costs whilst still maintaining high security requirements. – Safexs website

Designed to be secure enough for government agencies to trust, Safexs USBs are well-equipped to protect your business’s data. Plus, they work with all operating systems, which means that if you’re switching between Macs and PCs, you can still access and protect your documents.

Developed in the EU to be compliant with current and future EU Data Protection Directives

Most importantly, Safexs USB drives were developed to be GDPR compliant. With such harsh penalties for non-compliance (fines of up to 4% of your annual turnover), your business does not want to take any unecessary risks.

Benefits of encrypted flash drives

Encrypted USBs keep your data safe when working remotely or taking files off-site to show clients. However, they don’t stop there!

Note: these benefits are dependent on the model you buy; lower-spec encrypted flash drives may not offer them. If you’re interested in buying a secure USB and would like to better understand the features of each model, feel free to call us and ask a sales representative to ask for further information. Safexs Protector USBs have all of these functionalities.

  • Logging out of inactive machines

How often have you sat down to do some work – only to then get up to make yourself a quick cup of coffee? Or get called outside for a quick meeting? It’s not uncommon to get held up and be away from your computer for longer than you expect during the workday – but password protecting your files is no help if your PC is left open for people to access.

Encrypted flash drives have the ability to lock or turn off machines that have been inactive for a set amount of time; this means that if you get held up having a conversation at the coffee machine, your data is protected.

  • Protects against password guessing

After 10 wrong attempts at guessing the password, the password will reset.

  • Password rescue service

While you want your files to be secure . . . you still want to be able to access them if you forget your password. Fortunately, with Safexs there is safe password recovery that won’t destroy your files.

  • Secure file sharing 

Safexs USBS offer ShareProtect; a portable secure file sharing solution. This allows you to encrypt your device and computer files and share them with colleagues or business partners.

  • Auto-destruct

You can set your flash drive to automatically wipe its content at a set date. You no longer need to worry about having data sitting around for longer than it needs to be.

To conclude, we highly recommend investing in encrypted USBs for your business and employees working remotely or on the go.

If you’d like to purchase some encrypted USBs, feel free to call us at 0845 078 0324 or send an email enquiry to sales@quillsuk.co.uk.