>Many firms now make use of secure shredding services to help ensure they uphold their responsibilities under data protection laws. Indeed, conforming to this legislation is a top security priority for half of UK organisations, it has been revealed.
According to a poll conducted by Tech Target and Computer Week, 50 per cent of the IT security professionals it questioned put data protection at the top of their list of goals. This was a rise from 43 per cent last year.
Mobile endpoint security took the second spot, while identity and access management and network based security were in joint third position.
Under the Data Protection Act, businesses have a legal responsibility to ensure that steps are taken to safeguard information when it is gathered, stored, shared, maintained and disposed of. As well as paperwork, this covers computer records, CDs and disks.
Failing to comply with these laws can result in large fines. Penalties of up to £500,000 may be imposed, depending on the severity of the security failings. This means it is extremely important for companies to make sure they have effective systems in place to deal with confidential data.
Thankfully for enterprises, it is now easy to access confidential shredding services. By contacting shredding specialists, they can ensure that any hard drives, paperwork, microfilm and microfiche data and other materials are destroyed in accordance with the law. It is only by taking this issue seriously that bosses can avoid getting into legal difficulties concerning their handling of sensitive information.
