Consumers remain to be anxious about identity theft as criminals find new methods of data theft. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the number of identity fraud victims reached a new high of 16.7 million in 2017. Fraudsters continue to attack paper records, with one out of every 5 data breaches including paper publications.
The level of security of your safe paper shredder is determined by the shredding cut style. It’s an important consideration to make when looking for a new industrial shredding for your office. Shredders with high-security levels help to reduce the chance of confidential material getting into the wrong hands.
The type of information included in the paper you would really like to shred will determine the level of security of your commercial shredder. It influences the precision with which the paper is sliced. Crosscut, strip-cut, and micro-cut are the three fundamental cut styles.
A paper shredder’s safety level is determined by seven DIN 66399 regulations, with grades ranging from P-1 to P-7. The weakest security level, Class P-1, is appropriate for common materials. P-7 is intended for data that requires the highest level of security.
Strip-Cut
The strip-cut is by far the most widely used shredder cutting type just on market. It shreds the paper into around 40 small strips that can be reconstructed and decoded with ease. This cut is used in the P-1 and P-2 DIN 66399 classifications.
- P-1: The basic cut style is used, with the sheet shredder shredding the pieces into one-fourth-inch broad strips. This really is the lowest level of protection and is appropriate for basic information and advertisements on paper.
- P-2: The shredder shreds paper into one-eighth-inch broad strands that look like pasta. You could use it to recycle outdated and non-sensitive material.
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Cross-Cut
The cross-cut is a safe paper shredder for the intermediate tier. Two blades slice the papers both longitudinally and horizontally in cross-cuts. The paper pieces are smaller and more difficult to put together. Credit and debit cards, CDs, and flash drives can all be crushed with a cross-cut shredder. This cut is used by P-3 and P-4 level shredders.
- P-3: The secure cut is appropriate for non-sensitive private material like private communications and routine paperwork. It reduces the paper to 200 strips on average.
- P-4: The safe paper shredder uses a super cross-cut to tear the paper into about 400 tiny bits. It’s ideal for confidential business documentation including confidential information.
Micro-cut
Micro-cut is the greatest security cut for very private and sensitive documents. Financial firms, state contractors, and defense agencies benefit the most from it. The high-security paper shredder shreds documents into extremely small bits that are nearly impossible to duplicate.
- P-5: The micro-cut shred on the first level tears paper into around 2,000 pieces. It’s appropriate for financial and accountancy firms.
- P-6: Shredders at this level shred paper down to a max fragment size of 10mm square. Extra-confidential papers, such as study and product design files, should be shredded at Level 6.
- P-7: This is the greatest level of protection, with about 15,600 shreds each page. Government organizations, the army, and DOD subcontractors can use the ultra-secure shredding machine.
