Posted on 2020-12-12 by: Axel Kloth
If you think that only digital security counts you’d be wrong. I keep seeing that people buy a beautiful cross-cut shredder and then use it on the two or three pages they deem confidential per month. Wrong. If an attacker were to find out what your darkest secrets are and you only shred the stuff you don’t want anyone to see, that attacker will have a very easy time. He or she will only take the paper that you shredded and have a software tool reconstruct the pages. By only shredding important stuff, you make it very easy for anyone who is interested in your secrets.
Instead, shred all envelopes you receive together with important things. Shred everything that is not an ad but all letter-sized communication, including your own discarded drafts. Checks, important notes, drafts, handwritten things, anything with your signature on it should be shredded.
The only things I would not shred because they gunk up the shredder are post-it (sticky) notes and anything that has paper or plastic glued to it. Getting the glue out of the shredder teeth is borderline impossible, so don’t shred those and make sure you don’t have to. You can and should shred obsolete credit cards.
