The Different Types of Paper Shredders For Shredding Jobs

The different types of paper shredders for shredding jobs provide different levels of security. Shredders can be purchased as strip cut, cross-cut and micro cut machines. With each cut type the paper is shredded into smaller and smaller pieces. The smaller the piece of paper the more secure the information that was once visible on the paper.

Strip cut shredders are the least expensive shredders because they have fewer tools involved in the cutting process. They also can accept the largest number of pages to shred at any one time. The strips are cut one-eighth inch wide to one-quarter inch wide in long strips. These strips are more easily put back together if you can locate all the strips that belong on the same sheet of paper. The security feature with strip cutting is in the unlikely fact that anyone can collect all of the strips from the same sheet of paper and reconstruct it to extract the sensitive information from it.

Cross-cut shredders provide one more level of security. The cutters in this shredder have cutting cylinders that achieve a dual cutting action. This is the preferred method to shred for most commercial businesses because this shred is much smaller. This shred cuts two ways vertically and horizontally. It is unlikely that anyone would be willing to sit and attempt to reconstruct pages that have been cut into such small pieces. Less sheets of paper can be shredded at once, because this shredder has a smaller capacity because of its slower operation.

Micro-cut is the final type of shredding available. This shredder offers the highest level of security. Paper is shredded into dust sized particles, completely destroying information. There are actually two levels of security for this type of document destruction. One level turns an 8 x11 sheet of paper into 6,093 pieces. Top secret government and military documents go a step further and turns the same size paper into 12,064.5 pieces.

Unfortunately, corruption is so wide spread in our society that is mandatory for documents containing sensitive information be destroyed when they are no longer needed. Identity thieves and other con-artist have made stealing private information a very lucrative business. In an attempt to protect this sensitive information, shredders had to continually evolve to become more and more destructive. The micro-cut reducing an 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper to 6,093 pieces, practically the size of dust has taken identity protection to a new level. As thieves advance in their technology, businesses will have to stay one step ahead of the thieves and continue to develop a new more secure shredder.