ever before has privacy been such a large-scale issue. With the advent of the internet, new technologies have been rapidly developing -- and so too have the abilities of hackers and thieves. These days it seems like data breaches are constantly in the news, and those are only the widely publicized ones. Millions and millions of records are compromised each year, the vast majority of them without any type of file encryption. All it takes is one ignorant employee to click on the wrong link from the wrong spam email, and suddenly your business adds to the statistics. More and more data breaches happen each year, so taking every precaution to ensure your files are secure is crucial. An estimated 60% of small businesses go out of business within 6 months of a security breach. The last thing you need is to become compromised because Timmy the intern didn't properly shred your banking info or fully destroy an old hard drive.

Our industrial hard drive and paper shredding equipment can handle any amount of data you can throw at it. R4 Services knows how sensitive your information is, which is why we:

• Collect material to be shredded and securely transport it for disposal. A receipt of items received will be issued at the time of collection.
• Confidentially shred the material under the supervision of insured employees.
• Issue a Certificate of Destruction upon completion of the destruction process.
• Work with you to assist in your compliance requirements.

For more information, or to request a shred truck/shred bin, get in touch today!

Today’s technology gives us access to content, documents, photos, videos and work files like never before. We’re able to access information at the push of a button and in the palm of our hands. So how can we better utilize technology and integrate our records management from it? Why is records management so important in the workplace? Here’s how your company or organization can benefit from today’s technology:

1. First, it’s important to note that an effective document management system is not a guaranteed success with the implementation of modern technology. You must work for it. That means researching today’s cutting edge technology, understanding your own business needs, and finding the perfect match. Do you need web-based software? How about scanning capabilities to easily search for your documents?
2. The right technology can help improve your bottom line. There are two key factors that make up a successful records management system: proper training and time. When you get both of these right, your bottom line with improve, resulting in the overall success of your organization. When implementing new technology into your records managements system, it’s important to give your employees the proper training and be patient with the new process. Allow time for each step of the new system to work itself out naturally.

As concerns over the environment have increased over the past few years, businesses and residential communities have started more “going green” recycling campaigns to do their part. Just separate the paper from the plastics from the metals and throw them in a bin on the curb.  We often think recycling paper is the easiest way to save the planet, since it has a 60% recycling rate. However, where regular paper is fairly simple, shredded paper is complex. That’s right, if you take that sheet of looseleaf and tear it into bits, it suddenly becomes a hassle and even non-recyclable in many places. Many recycling services refuse to accept shredded paper, since it’s highly ineffective at being turned into new paper. It can also clog up recycling machinery at sorting plants. Evidently, the only real way to separate shredded paper from everything else is by hand -- arduous, tedious, and in the end, costly.

So this begs the question: how do you actually go about recycling your shredded paper? You presumably don’t want your identity stolen by a dumpster diver and your credit card statements are nobody’s business but your own. Well, the answer is fairly simple, but not completely obvious:

1. Separate the shredded paper into a bag. Many communities will take shredded paper as long as it’s in its own receptacle. Just be sure it’s not a plastic bag -- it’ll end up in a landfill, which defeats the purpose of your green efforts.
2. Check for local shredded paper pickup services. Some places have trucks that will get your shredded nuisance bits, though they may only do it by request.
3. Communities often host periodic free “shredding days” where the community can bring their scraps to machines specifically designed to handle shredded paper.
4. Reduce your amount of shredding. If you just want to cover up one line from your bank statement, use a permanent marker to black it out and recycle the paper like you normally do.

Of course, if you don’t want to have to worry about saving the planet, we’ll do it for you. We offer confidential, secure document destruction and disposal services. We do it for an array of different media types: tapes, disks, cartridges, x-rays, HDDs, monitors, film, and of course, paper. We provide you with options that best suit your needs and we’ll make sure your confidential statements have vanished without a trace. Check out our Destruction Services page and give us a call for more information.

If you've recently upgraded your office's technology, you might be wondering what to do with your old computers, electronics and hard drives. Tossing them in the trash or taking them to the dump isn't just wasteful and harmful to the environment, it also opens you up to liabilities and security risks. More than likely, you have gigabytes of personal, sensitive information stored on those drives about employees, customers, your business, its practices, financial information and more. If that data gets in the wrong hands, it can cost you your business -- or at the very least, customer trust.

That's why it's important to fully destroy your hard drives to the point of no return -- so no data can be retrieved from them. In 2017 alone, data breaches were responsible for 158 million Social Security Numbers being compromised. Now, it's not guaranteed that throwing your hard drives in the trash will lead to stolen identities, but minimizing those risks for a low price is surely in your best interests. That's why Chicago's very own R4 Services will help you to develop a comprehensive hard drive destruction plan that best suits your company's needs.

Customize Your Chicago Hard Drive Destruction Program With R4
Here's how it works: you gather up all of your old hard drives that need to be destroyed. We then confidentially collect them from your place of business and transport them to our secure facility, where we shred them via our state-of-the-art hard drive shredding machine. Catch a preview of it in action here. As you can see, thieves won't be getting SSNs off of those metal bits!

Once we collect the drives from your office, a receipt of all items received will be issued on the spot. After we confidentially shred the materials under the supervision of insured employees, we issue a Certificate of Destruction upon completion of the destruction process. R4 Services will also work with you to ensure we follow any compliance requirements your industry or business may have.

The Key Is Confidentiality
Security is our top priority, which is why we have 24/7/365 closed circuit surveillance and monitored doors. You may also witness the destruction service in action either from your computer screen or in person at our facility.

So if you're looking to properly dispose of all your old hard drives and other technology, shred them and recycle them properly with R4 Services. Get in touch today or call 773-843-3915

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