Be Warned
It seems even our rubbish isn’t safe…
Apparently one of the latest criminal scams
is sifting through rubbish for sensitive information. Receipts
or bank statements are the only ammunition some criminals need.
Research has shown that criminals are being paid up to £5
a document.
Businesses are now enlisting the services of companies that specialise in destroying
confidential material. Vicki Lord at Thomson, Snell & Passmore law firm,
said: “The destruction of confidential material, be it a photocopy containing
a reference to a client or entire client files, is of the utmost importance,
both from a commercial and also compliance perspective."
It is a view shared by Anthony Pearlgood,
managing director of Confidential Destruction Services Ltd (CDS)
in Greenwich, which specialises in the secure destruction of
confidential or sensitive information.
“The Data Protection Act of 1998 stipulates
that ‘data controllers must choose a data processor that
can provide them with sufficient guarantees of security measures’," he
said, “and yet many organisations fail to realise exactly
what constitutes sensitive data.
“The word ‘data’ can imply
just that – statistical information. But the information
that is proving so invaluable to criminals includes corporate
letter headed paper, financial reports, payroll data and product
development information.
“All of these have a potential in today’s
hard-hitting commercial world. Even discarded uniforms have been
used in organised crime.
“It may sound like a bad story line
from a James Bond movie, but the business sector needs to become
much more vigilant to protect itself from the type of crime that
can have horrendous consequences."
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