We are living in times when one of the greatest concerns we face is identity theft.Since nowadays it is not very difficult to replicate and counterfeit any document,our identity may be stolen even without our knowledge.This leads government organizations, businesses and private individuals to destroy their private documents to prevent them from falling into the hands of criminals.

The solutions to such problems lie within the use of paper shredders,which cut the papers into thin strips or very small particles.Although it is theoretically possible to reconstruct the shredded documents, it is very unlikely to happen in practice,as it would require mountains of patience and very strong nerves.Identity theft experts urge civilians to shred their expired credit cards, tax bills and bank account statements to prevent fraud in case they should fall in the wrong hands.

As more and more companies understand the need to keep their private data secure,the market of paper shredding machines grows rapidly with time.Organizations utilize paper shredders to get rid of their secret papers and avoid legal problems.

In the global market today, shredders range from the personal type meant for handling just a few pages to the industrial type which can handle thousands of papers every day. The bigger machines run into thousands of dollars and are sometimes so huge that they are built into shredding trucks.

As more and more requirements arise every day, the need for customizing the size of the shredders also arises. There are shredders that are hand powered like a pair of scissors to huge shredding trucks. That gives you an idea on the size and utility range of shredders.

Paper shredders can be classified by size and design as follows:

1.Strip Cut: This is the type with the lowest security level.Rotating blades cut up the paper into thin strips whose length equals the length of the entered sheet.In case the shredded strips fall in the wrong hands,they may be reassembled to reconstruct the original sheet.The shredding machine does not randomize the srtips, and the amount of produced garbage is large,as this type of shredding is least compressible.

2.Cross Cut or Confetti Cut: This type uses two perpendicular blades which rotate and shred the papers to small diamond shaped pieces.This type of cutting results in high compression level and maximum randomization of the shredded particles, thus offering high level of security for our confidential papers.

3.Particle Cut: This type works pretty much like the cross cut shredder, but the paper is shredded into small squares or circle particles.

4.Disintegrators and Granulators: This type of machines reduce the size of paper in a continuous and repeated manner until the particles are small enough to go through a mesh.

When buying a shredder for the first time you need to first understand the usage limitations and the approximate number of sheets you will be shredding per day. Depending on this you can either go in for an inexpensive personal shredder or the industrial versions which cost more and perform to a higher degree of security. The need for shredders is critical and probably makes all the difference between being you and someone impersonating your identity.

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