Determining the link between data breaches and identity theft is challenging, primarily because identity theft victims often do not know how their personal information was obtained. In several cases the reason for the data breach and eventual identity theft can be the stack of potentially confidential data disposed with regular trash by the office staff or the tiny credit card receipt, thrown casually in the trash after a shopping trip. The implications of improper destruction of crucial data are the cause of huge losses to businesses and individuals alike.
Bee’ah, the UAE’s leading integrated environmental and waste management company,receives information in various forms on a daily basis and is urging businesses in the UAE to employ properly document disposal procedures to reduce incidents of data theft and security breach. Bee’ah’s Confidential Document Destruction and Recycling Serviceis a safe, secure and environmentally responsible procedure available to companies.
Khalid Al Huraimel, Chief Executive Officer of Bee’ah commented, “Improper disposal of documents containing sensitive information is a serious threat, in some cases potentially jeopardising national security and a contributor to massive financial losses for companies and individuals.”
The UAE authorities are stepping up measures to tackle circumstances leading to information theft including dumpster diving, cheque scams and false identity cases. In a resounding success, Bee’ah recently linked up with the Sharjah Immigration Department to crack down on waste scavengers in the region as a testament to the high significance Bee’ah places on protecting personal information.
“Waste-scavenging is very much a reality in the UAE, with those willing to go through a company’s waste, in hopes ofuncovering important information. While Bee’ah, the Sharjah City Municipality and the General Directorate of Residency and Foreign Affairs of Sharjah, are making it a priority to crack down on these illegal waste scavengers, it is equally the responsibility of organisations to discard their confidential documents and electronic information securely and if possible in an environmentally friendly way” said Al Huraimel.
Bee’ah’sConfidential Document Destruction and Recyclingservice is a personalised, certified service complying with international standards whereby Bee’ah’s mobile shredding unit and trained operatives shred documents on-site, under close supervision of client representatives. All shredded material is then recycled and on completion a certificate is issued confirming the secure destruction and recycling of documents.Businesses that currently employ this service include - finance, banking, insurance, legal, logistics, education, hospitality, telecommunication, medical and retail.
Since the launch of the service in 2009, Bee’ah has securely managed to destroy and recycle over 1,000 tonnes of paper which is equivalent to saving 17,000 trees.
For more information on Bee’ah’s Document Destruction Service please contact shred@beeah-uae.com
Tips for protecting confidential information and documents:
A number of security breaches can be traced back to mishandled, lost or stolen paper documents.
• Introduce a ‘shred-all’ policy for all unwanted documents, on a regular basis, to avoid risks.
• Provide special locked consoles to deposit confidential documents, instead of recycling bins.
• Work with a reliable, specialized and secure document destruction and recycling solutions provider like Bee’ah’s to destroy confidential documents.
• Ensure that the provider shreds documents finely for ultimate security.
• Ask to view the provider’s document destruction process.
• Request a document certifying that the confidential documents have been securely destroyed and recycled.
