Effective February 17, 2010 Mobile Data Shredding’s Baltimore, Maryland office will be open for you to drop off your sensitive paper, hard drives, backup tapes, video tapes, audio tapes, CDs and other materials for secure shredding every Wednesday.
Appointments are required, please call 877-225-6010 at least 24-hours in advance.
Whether it be paper files, confidential records, old tax returns, canceled checks, receipts, business or personal records; we will be able to securely shred those documents conveniently and at a very reasonable price.
Typically, business and residential shredding requirements are handled at your location with our on-site shredding vehicle’s powerful industrial shredding system. But now you have an option to drop off your materials at our facility to save on costs. This is perfect for small-volume shredding needs or for when you need fast destruction and can’t wait to schedule. Maybe you just need to drop off materials on your way to or from work and will enjoy this convenience. In any case, we’re here to help!
Drop Off Schedule:
• Every Wednesday
• Make sure you call ahead to schedule your visit.
Typical Procedure:
• Bring your boxes, bags, tubs, containers, etc.
• Your paper documents or other sensitive materials will be safely and thoroughly shredded at our secure facility.
• You will be presented with an official Certificate of Destruction for your records.
You can contact us online to schedule a shredding drop-off or call 877-225-6010
Mobile Data Shredding, Inc.
8841 Kelso Drive
Baltimore, MD 21221
Barcode Scanning Benefits for On-Site Computer Tape & Hard Drive Destruction Services
We’ve been thinking about all the different ways we’ve been helping our clients get the best service for the best value and noticed a trend towards the need for more accountability in data security in last few years. Often, several different departments (whether it’s Legal, IT, Upper Management or other) are on the line to ensure 100% verifiable security in the data destruction process.
In the fight against loose security measures and potentially lost or misplaced media (which can literally cost a company millions in the wrong situation), Mobile Data Shredding has developed a valuable option. For clients needing the highest level of verifiable security and data destruction tracking for your Computer Tape & Hard Drive (media) destruction projects is in our Destruction Inventory Reporting Service.
That report is effectively a specific post-mortem account of all the media designated and demolished.
As a result, your company’s security, legal, facilities, IT, and management teams will all be satisfied with the release from liability and comfort that all that retired media isn’t lingering around any longer.
Most every Tape Cartridge has a unique vol/ser # barcoded label. Hard Drives have them, too.
As part of the staging and logging process, these labels are scanned, using our programmable barcode scanners, and then downloaded to a laptop computer, where the Destruction Inventory Report is created in Excel format. The report is a listing of every single vol/ser # scanned and destroyed.
Once we’ve completed the media destruction you’re presented with our Certificate of Destruction including a general description of the media destroyed, date, time and signed by an authorized Mobile Data Shredding employee.
At the same time you can have your Destruction Inventory Report, with specific details, via email or stored onto a flash drive.
That makes the entire process complete. Secure … On-Site … Fast … Safe … Efficient … Supervised … Detailed … Proof-Positive … Economical.
When contacting us for your media shredding projects, don’t forget to ask about our enhanced Destruction Inventory Reporting Services.
The Most Dangerous Backdoor to Your Data Center’s Security
In 2005 one of the largest banks in the U.S. lost data tapes with credit card numbers and social security numbers of 1.2 million federal employees, including senators.1
In 2007 a single stolen data tape in Ohio contained the social security numbers and private information of 1.3 million individuals and businesses.2
In 2008 a Fortune 500 company had a computer tape stolen from a delivery truck that contained the names, addresses, birthdays, Social Security numbers, marital status, bank account numbers, salaries, and hiring and termination/retirement dates of hundreds of employees. In addition, the tape has Social Security and address information about dependents of former and current employees.3
A single misplaced, improperly stored/transported, or improperly disposed of data tape or hard drive can be catastrophic to any organization, their clients and employees. This breach, even if the theft never ends in abuse, creates a breach in trust that can damage a reputation for years.
Portable magnetic computer tape storage devices have been prevalent in the data processing world close to 50 years. This storage media has been invaluable in processing, storing, and restoring huge amounts of information for a relatively small cost.
Technology in this arena is fast moving and ever changing. As a result, in the past several years the capacity, speed, and price of magnetic storage (computer tape cartridges) have made incredible advancements. A common tape cartridge sold today has a compressed capacity of 1.6 terabytes.
The message is quite simple. In these very small packages are stored enormous quantities of data including company financials, payroll, proprietary files, human resources records, medical, personal, social security, investment, and identity information. The tape and its contents absolutely must be managed properly.
As technology changes, newer, faster, cheaper and more compressed types of computer tape cartridges are adopted, the older tape cartridges are retired. Most of this retired tape still holds valuable data. Security and liability issues make the destruction of this tape (and more importantly, the data) a real serious concern. The legal, security, facilities, IT, and management departments all have the same concerns in disposition of this media. As a result, many times the tape sits idle in the computer facility, tape library, or off-site storage location taking up valuable space and naturally poses a higher exposure to loss.
Over the years many solutions have been proposed to this growing problem. But on-site degaussing, shipping to an incineration site, or manual one-by-one destruction options all have significant issues with time, cost, or risks of security breach.
If sent off-site for total destruction, once those cartridges, holding live data, leave the confines of the data processing center, tape library, or off-site storage facility, a lot of bad things can (and have) happened. Consider trucking accidents where the trailer is wrecked and computer tape spread onto the highway. The shipment is occasionally delivered to the wrong location, delayed because of weather, goofs, or miscommunication. Once delivered to a destruction or incineration plant, the tape is generally staged and/or batched with other materials, allowing further possibilities of loss, theft, viewing, and other general mistakes. While there are methods and procedures to minimize exposure, including shadow trucks, company personnel as passengers, satellite tracking, etc, the possibilities remain very real that this densely packed media can be compromised at some point along the transportation trail.
Degaussing is generally effective when proper attention is paid; the degausser has the capacity and strength to fully erase data. Many cartridges require multiple passes to ensure total erasure. Only the best grade and sturdy commercial degaussers can be operational for more than a few minutes at a time. The equipment is expensive and one particular degausser will not necessarily be the panacea for every type of computer tape in the library because of various cartridge density or size considerations. Costs for internal personnel resources and time play significant roles as well. Degaussing is a very slow, monotonous process.
Tape guillotines, whether manual or automated will destroy a tape cartridge…one at a time. Multiply the size of the tape library to be destroyed by a couple of minutes per cartridge to determine how many hours are involved. Add to it the cost and maintenance of the machine, the manpower, space, diversion and time. At the end, the computer tape, while totally un-useable or recoverable, still has to be disposed of properly.
Ultimately, best practices dictate that certified on-site secure shredding of computer tape or hard drive is a complete, thorough, visual, real-time and proof-positive shredding method for destruction and disposal. This is an out-sourced service performed at the actual data center location under the supervision of any concerned employee in the company and in full view of all security devices, cameras and video monitoring systems. The process is quite fast, completely destroying tape cartridges. Several hundred can be shred every 4-5 minutes, with a constant flow possible, giving a capacity of tens of thousands in less than one 8-hour shift. Once the destruction process is complete, the mobile shredding vehicle leaves the facility and all liability, security, disposal, and logistical concerns are eliminated.
Hard drives, whether they are laptop, desktop, or server varieties all also carry the same concerns as retired tape. Hard drives can also be securely shredded on-site using the same certified procedures.
If transport is required then encrypted digital transport is recommended, followed by certified on-site destruction of the physical media.
About Mobile Data Shredding, Inc.:
Mobile Data Shredding, Inc. provides secure, on-site tape/hard drive/document destruction services to the Baltimore, Washington DC, Boston, Philadelphia, and general Northeast and Midlantic regions. For more information visit http://www.mdshred.com or call (877) 225-6010.
About the Author: Mike Dodson, founder of Mobile Data Shredding, is a nationally recognized data destruction expert with over 25 years in the data processing and computer media industry. He has provided consulting services and support to Fortune 500/100/50 corporations across the nation.
Sources:
1 http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7032779/
2 http://privacy.org/archives/002096.html
3 http://www.breachblog.com/2008/07/18/bms.aspx
This whitepaper was also published on the Data Center Journal: http://datacenterjournal.com/content/view/2867/40/
Let Us Build You a Routine Schedule for Removing and Destroying Sensitive Material On-Site.
Click below to download our Info Sheet
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Scheduled vs On-Demand Shredding Services
Mobile Data Shredding is pleased to present this informative one-page pdf on the Top 10 Reasons to Shred and What Needs to be Shredded. This information may be useful even for those who already have shredding programs in place. We’d love to hear your comments as well!
Click here to download this informative document (pdf).
How much advance notice do you need for a shredding appointment?
We can generally be on your site with a minimum 48 hour notice, but appreciate as much advance planning as possible.
Do you service residences as well as business offices?
Yes, we do. In fact, we often get requests for evening or weekend appointments at residences to work into the client’s schedule.
Do we have to separate staples and paper clips from the documents and paper to be shredded?
Absolutely not. Our mobile shredding system is very powerful, and capable of shredding staples, paper clips, alligator clips, etc, and even notebooks, binders, clip boards, folders, text books, phone books, ledger books, and so forth. In addition to the high processing speed, the ability to effectively and economically shred a wide variety of materials is what separates our service from the limited capacity of in-house shredders.
In your Scheduled Service package, what is the cost for placing a Secure Shredding Container in our office?
There are several styles and capacities of these secure containers, depending on your volume usage and requirements. They are all installed in your facility at no charge to you. We charge only for our shredding services and you will find those fees to be very inexpensive.
For On-Demand Services, do I have to know how many pounds of paper I have to shred before I call?
It is very difficult for anyone to approximate the weight of paper for a shredding project and it is not necessary. When you call us there are many simple ways we can estimate the volume by how, in what, and where it is stored. Within a couple minutes over the telephone we can gather that information and provide a price quotation for you.
I have a lot of computer tape of various brands, capacities and models. What do you need to know?
We have considerable experience with computer tape and similar media, in both technological knowledge as well as destruction capabilities. Tape products are many and varied, but we can certainly identify them quickly and easily. Quantity of tape for Secure On-Site Destruction is the most important factor in determining the scope and cost of a project. Once we have a description of the computer tape cartridges, it is a simple process to estimate quantity by how you have it stored. Generally they are in various sized boxes, tape tubs, palletized, in gaylords, or sometimes still in tape racks. For some large, involved projects it is a good idea to invite us to survey your site to answer some of the logistical questions in advance. Secure On-Site Destruction is always top priority with Mobile Data Shredding, especially when it involves high density media such as computer tape. Yes, we even shred 9-track reel tape and VHS tape On-Site!
We currently have a quantity of hard drives to destroy and we continually retire more as they come to end-of-use. Is there a method to manage this?
Yes. Naturally, if there is a requirement to destroy a number of hard drives On-Site, our specialized service is a perfect match. In addition to that, however, many companies have a need to manage a secure initiative for their on-going hard drive destruction needs. The methods we now see are generally to stack the hard drives up in the operations manager’s office or in a corner of the tape library in copy paper boxes, file cabinets, drawers, etc. This use of valuable space is generally messy, clutter-bound, and very susceptible to security breach. As a solution, we can install a large, secure, lockable, container in your facility especially designed to store hard drives and computer tape cartridges. That container is installed for free. When it is full, just give us a call. Then we arrive at your office for secure destruction On-Site. Real simple.
How much time does the shredding take?
Regardless of the size of your project, you will be impressed by the speed and capabilities of our mobile shredding system. Our state-of-the-art shredders are rated to shred up 8,000 pounds of paper per hour. That is helped considerably by the unique ‘Gripper Tipper’ system that automatically loads the shredder. Other systems require manual lifting and loading into the shredder, using valuable time and a lot of energy. Naturally, that speed does not include retrieval time, or getting the paper to the mobile shredder. We are very good at that, too, as our wheeled containers have been expertly designed to efficiently transport the materials to the mobile shredder parked at your office. Shredding appointments are handled very quickly, professionally and discretely, along with our “Zero Disruption Guarantee”. Our 10,000 pound payload capacity manages most projects in one visit with a single vehicle.
Do we need to arrange for services during prime time working hours?
Prime time generally has quite a bit different definition these days as it had in the past. Nevertheless, Mobile Data Shredding is accustomed to working with our clients’ schedules, whether they are during regular hours, off-shifts, nights, or even weekends. We do not charge a premium fee for those schedules. You will experience the same quality service from Mobile Data Shredding, Inc. regardless of the time of day or week.
Community Shredding Days
Springtime gave us all an opportunity to get out of the house, warm up a bit, and shake off the winter and now Summer is here.
The outdoor activities like soccer and little league baseball, fishing, golf and all those fun things get people and communities together. It’s a good time for group paper shredding as well.
It seems like this time of year is by far the most active time of year for Community Shred Days.
We have completed 3 successful Community Shredding events in the past 3 weeks. Several more are planned.
In late April we held an event in Timonium in conjunction with R/E Max. Weather was great, there was live music and free hot dogs. We managed to shred lots of paper that day and even a few hard drives.
In May we did two more..
Farmingdale Condominium Association in Germantown sponsored a community day where a local landscaper organized the kids and planted flowers and bushes around the neighborhood. They gave away tee shirts, juice boxes and cookies to the residents. A Montgomery County Animal Protection Officer was present to talk about pets, pet owner responsibilities and all kinds of pet and farm animal stories. Mobile Data Shredding played a part in the spring spirit and helped lots of people in the neighborhood get rid of cancelled checks, receipts, magazines, old files, statements and so forth. We filled up the truck with shredded paper and helped nature a bit along the way, too.
A well organized church in Annapolis, St. Phillips Episcopal, had us help the community with shredding services in their parking lot. Members of the parish and other residents of Annapolis came out, learned a bit about Identity Theft prevention and Recycling initiatives. We shred quite a bit of out-dated and end-of-cycle personal files and met lots of nice people. One of the fringe benefits we receive in this business is that when folks see that paper go away we get to see lots of smiles.
Mobile Data Shredding, Inc. is anxious to help educate in many of the facets of Secure On-Site Document and Media Shredding:
If you have interest and would like to organize a Shredding Day for your club, sports team, school, civic organization, church, company, block party, town, etc, etc, feel free to contact us by phone or online.
Consider that, although folks are much more vigilant than ever, Identity Theft is still a real threat and getting more sophisticated. Physical methods such as ‘dumpster diving’, however, still are the most prevalent ways to steal your personal information.
Recycling works. We recycle all of our shredded documents. When provided with some of the statistics you will certainly be amazed on how a relatively small amount of effort saves our natural resources and how even individual households can make an overall impact.
George Carlin had a great bit about ‘Stuff’ and how we accumulate it and struggle with how to manage it. His comedy routine was hilarious, but these Community Shreds do give us a way to get rid of a bunch of our ‘Stuff’ in a sensible and responsible manner.
