1 - Introduction
To protect yourself against these risks, it is essential to ensure that confidential documents do not fall in the wrong hands. One approach to prevent confidential papers from falling into the wrong hands would be to destroy confidential papers as soon you have finished with it. This is where paper shredders come into the picture. Shredders ensure safe disposal of confidential documents by shredding them into such tiny pieces – that it becomes impossible for anybody to discern or reconstruct them. This ensures that no one can lay his/her eyes on your confidential data. The design of shredder blades and the manner in which they are mounted determine, how well the paper will be shred. Depending on how the paper is shred, shredders are classified as strip-cut shredders, or crosscut shredders. As the name suggests, strip-cuts shredders cuts the paper into strips. Cross cut shredders shreds the paper by shearing it along and across the length of the paper ensuring finer shreds. Once confidential papers have been shredded, there is no possibility of such papers (or the information in them) being misused, even if they were to fall in the wrong hands. There is not much anyone can do with such shredded paper (other than using them for making paper-maché articles or using them for packing material). Hence the amount invested in buying a shredder can be considered as amount invested in ensuring the security of your confidential data.
| What factors should one consider when buying a shredder? If we were to look at individual factors, I am sure we could get a pretty long list. But in general the only factor to be considered would be: Does it meet your requirement? The requirement aspect includes considerations such as (your data) security requirements and the volume of shredding to be done. |
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2 - How it Works
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A paper shredder has a pair of rotating cutting blades, which are driven by a motor. When paper is fed into the shredder, the rotating, intermeshing blades shear the paper. Depending on the design of the blades and the manner in which blades are mounted, the paper may be shred into thin strips or small bits. The shredded paper is generally collected in some sort of container placed below the blades. |
Various types of containers are used to collect the shreds produced. Low-end shredders are simply draped over the edge of an office wastebasket. More expensive ones come equipped with their own wastebasket. Most office grade shredders typically come with an enclosed cabinet. There are some shredders that come with a stand that can hold a plastic bag which collect the shreds.
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3 - Types
3.1 - The Shred Type
According to the type of cut, shredders are classified as:
Strip-Cut
A strip-cut shredder shreds papers into thin, long strips. The width of the cut generally varies from 5/32”
(11.8 mm) and 1/2” (3.8 mm). The strip width to opt for depends on the level of security desired. A smaller width
strip offers greater security than cuts with larger (width) size. Generally, strip- cut shredders can cut faster than
cross-cut shredders. Also the cutter heads are less sensitive to metal objects, such as metal clips and pins. Strip-cut
shredders are less expensive than cross cut shredders. The maintenance cost of strip-cut shredders is less than that of
cross-cut shredders.
Cross-cut
Cross-Cut shredders cut the paper into small bits. Cross-Cut shredders offer greater security than strip-cut shredders,
as they are able to shred paper into extremely small bits. Generally the sizes of bits vary from 1/32” x 1/2”
(0.8 x 12 mm) to 5/32” x 9/16” (3.8 x 65 mm). A spin-off benefit from the small bit (shred) size is that the
container holding the shreds can hold a greater amount of paper shreds. Being smaller in size, the shreds tend to get
closely packed into the (waste) container allowing for a greater amount of paper to be packed in. This means, you have to
empty the container less often than you would be while using a strip-cut shredder. However cross-cut shredders are slower
than straight cut shredders and are more sensitive to metal objects such as paper clips or pins. Cross-Cut shredders are
much more expensive than strip-cut shredders and are also more expensive to repair and maintain.
3.2 - The Shred Volume
Depending on the volume of shredding being done, shredders are classified as:
- Low Volume (Home/Personal Shredders)
- Mid Volume (Office Shredders)
- High Volume (Office Shredders)
There are Industrial shredders that handle much higher volumes than “High Volume” shredders, but in this article we will focus on only home and office shredders.
Low Volume (Home/Personal Shredders)
These shredders are suitable for home and personal use. They generally have a capacity of 10 to 100 sheets per day. They
have a smaller feed (throat) width and can handle multiple sheets ( two to five) at a time.
Mid Volume (Office Shredders)
These shredders are suitable for office use. They can handle a capacity of 100 to 2000 sheets per day. They have a wider throat width and can handle five to thirty sheets at a time. They are designed for use by multiple users. |
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High Volume (Office Shredders)
These high volume office shredders are designed for continuous use and can handle five to sixty sheets at a time.
They have a capacity to shred 1,000 to 36,000 sheets per day and are designed for continuous use. They are equipped
with higher power motor that allows them to chew through paper for a longer period of time.
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4 - Key Specs
4.1 - Security Required (Type of Shred)
The U.S. Department of Defense requires, “TOP SECRET” documents be reduced to shred sizes no larger than
1/32" x 1/2". Strip-Cut shredders cannot shred papers into shreds of this size and for this situation you would
have to opt for a cross-cut shredder. The example given helps to make the point that, the type of shredder you choose
should be in tune with your security requirements. Smaller shreds reduce the risk of the misuse of (shred) documents.
Since cross cut shredders cut along and across the length of the paper, cross-cut shredders offer much smaller shred size
than strip-cut shredders. Check out the width of the strip (for strip-cut) or size of the shred (for cross cut) shredders
to evaluate the size of shreds.
4.2 - Sheet Capacity
Almost all shredders allow you to simultaneously shred multiple sheets of paper. The sheet capacity refers to the number
of sheets that can be simultaneously fed into the shredder. The blades of the shredder get jammed if sheets in excess of
the prescribed sheet capacity are loaded into the shredder. The sheet capacity is one of the factors that determine the
throughput of shredders. A higher sheet capacity translates into lesser amount of time spent in feeding documents into the
shredder.
4.3 - Throughput
The throughput of the shredder is the product of sheet capacity and speed of the shredder. The throughput indicates the
number of sheets that can be shred per unit time. The throughput should be used to evaluate the shredding capacity of the
shredder; as the sheet capacity or the speed by itself does not indicate the amount of shredding that can be done. Since
it is the throughput that determines the time required for shredding, it is important to consider the throughput for
situations where a large volume of shredding needs to be done
4.4 - Feed Width
The feed (throat) width is the width of the opening into which the paper is fed into. The feed width ranges from 8”
to 18”. Most high capacity shredders have a feed with of 16”. It easier to feed oversized and disorganized
stacks of paper into shredders having a feed width greater than the width of the paper.
4.5 - Wastebin Capacity
The capacity of the wastebin determines the amount of shredding that can be done before there is a need to empty the
wastebin (bag). A small size wastebin may necessitate frequent emptying of the wastebin, reducing the productivity. The
wastebin capacity should be in tune with the amount of shredding being done.
4.6 - Specialty Shredding
Confidential information need not always be on paper, it could also be on CDs, DVDs, floppies, film, cards etc. Specialty
shredders enable you to shred CDs/DVDs credit cards, floppies etc.; thereby ensuring that even data on such storage device
do not land into the wrong hands. One of the biggest threats to business is the unauthorized use of business data. Shredding
of confidential documents after use ensures that such documents won’t fall into the wrong hands. The amount invested in
a shredder would be miniscule when compared to the loss that could result due to leak of confidential information. And its
not just businesses that need to safeguard themselves, individuals too should protect themselves against instances of leak
of confidential data by ensuring that confidential, personal and financial documents are disposed off in a safe manner i.e.
shred before being disposed.
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