This last calendar month of the year and going into the first calendar month of 2016 is a good time to reflect and take stock of your record keeping process. Every business has the responsibility to safely and securely store and dispose of personally identifying private information. Not to mention, the huge legal liability in the face of HIPPA, Gramm-Leach Bliley and the whole alphabet soup of federal and state legislation that holds businesses accountable.

There are a variety of privacy concerns to consider, in addition to setting the clients’ minds at ease. When it comes to document destruction and shredding services, the best way to ensure simplicity and quality is to hire an outside firm to shred your sensitive papers. For professionals such as lawyers, physicians, and accountants, the easiest and most efficient method happens to be the method required by federal law.

A company that uses a mobile document shredding unit is the best available, since the document destruction capabilities go wherever they’re needed. No matter your business, no matter the location, a mobile shredding service can handle the task for you.

When hiring a document shredding firm, be sure to ask whether it’s necessary for you to prepare the documents for destruction – and if it is, keep looking. The most efficient way to eliminate old documents and expired paperwork is to simply hand them over to the professionals in charge of shredding. Spending hours removing every paper clip, rubber band and staple isn’t a good use of your company’s time, so make sure the shredding-and-baling unit your document destruction firm uses is a powerful one.

If your firm generates a substantial amount of paperwork every week, it might be a good idea to hire a document destruction company that makes regular pickups. Many companies will provide disposal bins, complete with lock and key. Schedule a regular pickup time, and make sure to have one or two employees serve as a regular liaison to the document destruction firm’s representatives. Your clients’ privacy will be worth it.

HV Shred can service all of your mobile document destruction needs. We offer same-day and next-day service, as well as routine service without hidden fees or surcharges. Our document shredding and mobile document shredding practices all conform to shredding regulations outlined in HIPAA, GLBA, and FACTA

For more on best practices in identity theft protection and navigating the alphabet soup of legislation, please visit www.hvshred.com

We are full force into the 2015 Holiday Season and we got an early gift of our busiest November yet.  Over the course of the month of November, thanks to the support of the local business community, HV Shred helped shred and recycle enough paper to protect over 1500 trees and nearly 300 cubic yards of landfill.

Protecting identities and the environment are our top priorities.

Our mission is clear:  We are dedicated to delivering heartfelt, relationship focused service ensuring security, compliance, and sustainability for the business and local community. Secured data destruction customized and executed with appreciation and enthusiasm by our hand-picked, fully vetted team of professionals to safeguard confidentiality as well as protect and preserve the environment. We are the identity protection company who puts the confidence in confidential.

For resources and results for all manner of things related to identity theft protection and best practices in the realm of securely destroying and disposing confidential data, please visit www.hvshred.com

Thanksgiving officially kicks off the holiday season highlighted by Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday.  This week’s blog is adapted from one of our favorite on line safety resources–OnGuard Online produced by the FTC.  Yes, Cyber Monday promises unbelievable savings – but before commencing your shopping, here are some tips to help you save money and protect your personal information:

Know the seller and the item. Put the company or product name in a search engine, along with “review,” “complaint,” or “scam.” Read the reviews. Be sure you can contact the seller if you have a dispute.

Avoid clicking links in emails. Scammers know it’s Cyber Monday, too. Their phishing scams are after your money or personal information. If an unexpected email promises awesome online deals, don’t click on those embedded links. Check out the company first, confirm its web address, and type it in yourself.

Pay by credit card. Credit cards give you extra protections – like the right to dispute charges and temporarily withhold payment during an investigation. Whatever the deal might be, never mail cash or wire money to online sellers. And if a company insists you only pay with a gift card, it’s probably a scam.

Ensure happy returns. What are the site’s return or exchange policies? Is there a re-stocking fee?

Have a safe checkout. Look for a URL that starts with https. (The ‘s’ stands for secure). If there’s no ‘s,’ if you have doubts, or if you’re asked to email payment info, leave the site.

Keep records. Print or save records of online transactions until you get the goods. Keep the product description and price, receipt, return policy, and any emails related to your purchase.

For more on best practices in all things related to identity theft, please visit www.hvshred.com

the Department of Homeland Security recently had a valuable post regarding best practices related to staying protected in our increasingly connected mode of living.

In his October, 2015 blog, Andy Ozment, Assistant Secretary, Cybersecurity and Communications observed that most of us have developed a very close relationship with our mobile devices: we carry them with us throughout the day, check them frequently, and even sleep with them nearby at night. Although mobile devices allow us to instantly connect with friends and family, to access the internet, get directions, and make purchases, this increased convenience also comes at an increased risk. Many of these online activities require us to provide personal information such as our name, email address, account number, and credit card information. This puts us at an increased risk of having this information compromised by cyber criminals.

In his role as Assistant Secretary, Cybersecurity and Communications at The Department of Homeland Security he urged all Americans to follow these simple steps to ensure the security of their personal information online:

• Keep your private information private. Avoid sharing your full name, address, and other personal information online. Frequently check a website’s privacy options to ensure you have enabled the highest level of privacy as options may get updated or changed completely.
• When in doubt, throw it out. Links in emails, tweets, posts, and online advertisements are often how cybercriminals compromise your computer or mobile device. If it looks suspicious, it’s best to delete it, even if you know the source. If appropriate, mark the message as “junk email” so that future messages from the sender do not end up in your inbox.
• Set strong passwords. Setting passwords that are long, unique, and hard to guess is one of the most important things you can do to protect your online accounts. Changing passwords regularly and using different passwords for different accounts goes a long way to protecting your online information.
• Secure your accounts. Ask for protection beyond passwords. Many websites now offer additional ways for you verify your identity are before you conduct business on their sites, such as two-factor authentication.
• Secure your mobile device. In order to prevent theft and unauthorized access, use a passcode to lock your mobile device and always lock it when it’s not in use. Never leave your mobile device unattended in a public place.

For more on identity theft best practices please visit www.hvshred.com

HV Shred President Judith Papo had the pleasure and privilege to introduce Coach Levy at the annual Banker, Attorney, CPA Networking Event

This past Wednesday evening the NYS Society of CPAs hosted nearly 200 professionals as one and all enjoyed an evening of networking, good food, and a fantastic presentation by the one and only Coach Marv Levy.  Coach Levy’s program shared insights not only from his years as one of the most successful NFL coaches ever–taking his Buffalo Bills to an unprecedented and never duplicated four straight Super Bowls,  but also from his time in service during World War II.

His pillars of success are “PR”–Preparation and Resilience; and he vetted his team members and coaches for those characteristics.  Everything else flows from preparation and resilience.

Again, we thank our sponsors:  Gold Sponsors TD Bank and Orange County Trust; Silver Sponsors HVFCU, Lakeland Bank, Salisbury Bank, and Walden Savings; and our Bronze Sponsors: HV Shred, Catskill Hudson Bank, Empire State Bank, Jeff Bank, and Tompkins Mahopac Bank.

We look forward to continuing to improve and grow the event in 2016 so please feel free to check in with your feedback.  You can contact Judith at judith@hvshred.com

HV Shred truly enjoys being a part of community events–to learn more about our community involvement as well as invite us to join your community event please visit www.hvshred.com

A strong turnout helped make our 3rd Annual Rotary Event a success!

Thanks to all who came out in support of our 3rd Annual Poughkeepsie-Arlington Rotary Shred Event.  With strong support from Rotarians throughout the area and a generous public we helped raise over $1500!  Along the way, we also helped save approximately 40 trees and 6 cubic yards of landfill.

Special thanks to our fundraising chair Joe Pedota (and his daughter), Jim Brown our treasurer collecting the donations, Tom McCormack and his grandson, Elliot Sussin, David Schmidt, and the others I am shamefully forgetting to name.  It was a strong group effort.

Thanks also to our hosts from Bridgeway Federal Credit Union namely President and CEO Michelle McCourt and branch manager Jenny Fox.  LaGrange Pharmacy helped us raise additional monies with some fun gift baskets to raffle off.  Definitely stop by the store at 1520 Route 55 in LaGrangeville to check out the fun stuff they have in their totally remodeled HallMark store inside the pharmacy.

LaGrange Pharmacy helped raise money by donating HallMark gift baskets

Keep your eyes peeled for our 4th annual event in 2016!