Did you know that during 2020, there was a 51% increase in the rate of cybercrime? Because of the worldwide lockdowns and quarantine measures, companies around the world adopted a work from home policy. Unfortunately, employee’s personal computers and Wi-Fi networks were not as secured as the company servers, and this led to a wide scale increase in data breaches.

According to a report released by IBM, the average cost of a data breach because of working remotely was around $137,000 per attack. In total, the USA lost around $8.64 million in 2020 because of all the data breaches that occurred at an organizational level. The Healthcare industry was a major target for hackers, and in total, lost around $7.13 million.  

At the end of 2020, Cybersecurity Ventures predicted that every year, the rate of cybercrime would increase by 15% and by 2025, it would have cost the world $10.5 trillion in damages.

Why is it Important to Shred Your Data in 2021?

Safe and secure data shredding protects individuals and organizations from data breaches. Unfortunately, erasing the data from the computer does not delete it permanently, and with advanced software, the data can still be recovered and used for malicious activities. Such attacks, frauds and identity thefts can cost companies and their staff millions of dollars in damages.

Moreover, leaks such as the publication of sensitive and classified documents or personal messages can jeopardize a company’s reputation and could result in a major loss of business.

Here are some reasons why you should shred your data in 2021:

1. Increase in Cybercrime Rates

As more and more businesses and individuals turn to technology to adapt to the new normal and continue with their work and other professional commitments remotely, hackers have found a new set of people to target.

They are using unsecured Wi-Fi connections and devices without anti-viruses to steal sensitive data and cause harm to the company. According to Shred-it’s 2020 Data Protection Report, 43% of the top-level executives admitted that their company had been a target of a data breach. Data breaches don’t just result in financial losses; they put the company’s reputation and credibility at stake too.

For example, if a data breach occurs at an international bank that has stored the data of more than 100,000 customers on its servers, not only will these 100,000 customers lose their money, but they will also stop trusting the bank’s security measures and will prefer to open their accounts at a rival bank which can protect them from such attacks in the future.

2. Old Records Can Be Just As Meaningful for Hackers

You may think that having old records in your computers is of no importance to the hackers, but oftentimes, hackers use these old records to blackmail professionals and put them in a compromising situation. Old records such as email exchanges, business deals, financial information, inventories and customer information can all be used against you because if leaked, your competitors can use this information to their advantage.

All companies have some trade secrets which they must hide from their competitors, but hackers can steal these trade secrets from your devices and threaten to give them to your competitors unless you give them the money they demand from you.

3. To Keep Your Personal Life Private

The data on our computer devices, mobile devices and hard disks includes our personal photographs, chats, videos and email exchanges. People with malicious intentions can steal our personal and private data and upload it on the dark web to harm us, our families and our friends. Many times, personal photographs and videos are edited, turned into pornographic content and sold for thousands of dollars to such websites. Such graphical content can tarnish our reputation and affect our personal relationships.

According to a news article published by Insider, in 2020 alone, 150,000 intimate images that had been uploaded without consent on pornographic websites had to be removed by sextortion and revenge porn helplines. In 2020, 3,146 people filed a complaint that their private images and videos had been stolen from their devices and uploaded on the web without their consent when they refused to pay the hackers the ransom they had demanded.

Hence, to protect your private life, save yourself from being a victim of cybercrimes and safeguard your company’s trade secrets, finances, credibility and reputation, you must use data shredding services to permanently destroy the data.

New Jersey Shredding Service

At New Jersey Shredding, we offer safe, secure, on-site and HIPPA compliant data shredding services to all our valued customers.

Call us today at (201) 371-5900 to get your free quote. 

New Jersey Shredding – Let Us Remind You What Great Service Looks Like!