Ever lost a memory stick?

Posted on 16th March 20203rd February 2020 by megan

Dealing with USB memory stick disposal correctly is so important these days; it could mean make or break for a business, as the recent case brought by the Information Commissioner against Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL) shows.

After a member of the public found a USB memory stick the company had lost, HAL was fined £120,000 for failing to ensure the personal data held on its network was properly secured.

The memory stick was discovered on October 16, 2017 after it had been lost by an employee.

It contained 76 folders and over 1,000 files, and it had not been encrypted or protected by a password.

The person who found it took it to a local library and looked at the material on it and passed it to a national newspaper.

There was a small amount of sensitive and personal data held on it, including a training video which revealed 10 people’s names, passport numbers, dates of birth, and details concerning up to 50 aviation security personnel employed by HAL.

ICO Director of Investigations, Steve Eckersley, said: “Data protection is a boardroom issue and it is imperative that businesses have the policies, procedures and training in place to minimise any vulnerabilities of the personal information that has been entrusted to them.”

The ICO said its investigation found just 2% of the workforce of 6,500 had been trained in data protection.

The investigation also found the widespread use of removable media such as memory sticks in contravention of HAL’s own policies.

Once the company was aware of the matter, it reported what happened to the police, acted to contain the incident, and took on a specialist to monitor the internet and the dark web.

It took action to remedy the situation.

Read more about the case, which was brought under the old Data Protection Act because it pre-dated the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) here.

Under GDPR rules, serious breaches can cost companies fines of up to 4% of their worldwide annual turnover, or 20 Million Euros, whichever is the higher.

Taclus Confidential Managing Director David Lovatt said: “It’s easy to forget about removable media such as memory sticks and image cards, but they could cost us dearly if we don’t get them shredded securely. Ensure all your old memory sticks are collected and shredded by a company who can give you a certificate of destruction.”

Why you should choose Taclus Confidential – A South Wales secure shredding company

We offer confidential paper waste, removable media, and hard drive destruction services at affordable prices.

Taclus Confidential holds the accreditations for ISO 9001:2015 for quality management and ISO14001:2015 for environmental management and has been certified by independent auditors IQS for both.

Taclus has also been selected as the confidential waste management partner for Keep Wales Tidy.

If you need advice on dealing with the secure destruction of your confidential waste, contact our friendly and efficient team on 02920 676 714, or email [email protected]

Time for a clear-out? Old contracts can leave you exposed….

Posted on 24th February 202030th January 2020 by megan

Do you need a clear-out?

Have you been hanging on to old contracts for employees and clients?

If you no longer need them, it’s time to ensure they’re dealt with securely.

They’re legal documents, many contain confidential employee details, and if your competitors get their hands on them it could give them an edge over you in business.

What would happen if fraudsters got their hands on these documents? They could cause havoc for your business.

While most businesses deal with contracts at some point, this is particularly relevant for professionals and companies which use them regularly.

Solicitors, estate agents, car leasing firms, and service providers such as telecommunications companies can deal with contracts on a daily basis.

Employee and client contracts will often contain names, addresses, details of next of kin, phone numbers, personal emails, and banking details.

Losing them could lead to identity theft or bank fraud and claims for compensation from your clients or employees.

This could prove disastrous for your business financially and for your company’s reputation.

The General Data Protection Regulations mean your business faces severe penalties in the most serious cases of data protection breaches.

That could be a £500,000 fine or a fine of up to 4% of your business’ worldwide turnover, whichever is larger. This is a far higher penalty than businesses currently face under the Data Protection Act.

So, losing data on several contracts could mean your business facing ruin.

How steep a penalty businesses face depends on whether they have documented processes in place to protect employee and client data, and how quickly they react to breaches.

Consider using Taclus Confidential – a South Wales secure shredding company

Taclus Confidential provides lockable consoles which can be used when destroying old contracts.

Once placed in the console, only key holders can remove the documents which will be recycled.

Do you have old blank paper contracts? Make sure they’re destroyed, too. Otherwise, someone unscrupulous could claim they work for your business to obtain people’s data.

Do you have digital contracts on old hard drives or flash drives? Taclus Confidential shreds those drives securely, too.

Using a dedicated service like ours has several benefits:

Staff are checked and all data is destroyed securely
We provide you with certificates of destruction – so you can prove you have systems to deal with confidential data
We have a zero-landfill policy
Our prices are competitive because of our low overheads
We save you time and money by freeing up your staff to do their core work
Taclus Confidential holds the accreditations for ISO 9001:2015 for quality management and ISO14001:2015 for environmental management, and has been certified by independent auditors IQS for both
Taclus has also been selected as the confidential waste management partner for Keep Wales Tidy

Are you looking for an affordable secure shredding service in South Wales? If you need advice on dealing with the secure destruction of confidential waste, call our friendly and efficient team on 02920 676 714, or email [email protected].

GP, dental and other healthcare practices – act now!

Posted on 30th January 202030th January 2020 by megan

GP, dental and other healthcare practices hold a great deal of sensitive information on paper and on computers.

As GDPR becomes part of our daily life now, we are all aware of the potential it brings for far higher fines for an organisation which breaches it. So as January comes to an end, this is an excellent time for GP and dental practices to review how they deal with their information.

At Taclus, we recommend that you outsource your secure shredding to us (of course)!

Here are 7 excellent reasons you should consider using us:

Patient records – There are many sensitive items on a patient’s records. From the history of their treatment to their medication, addresses, phone numbers, and notes about potential future treatment. It is still common for many practices to hold paper records, and if they fall into the wrong hands this could result in a practice getting into serious trouble with the health authorities.

Appointment cards – This could give identity thieves and burglars information about patients such as their name, address, and when they will be out of their homes for dental appointments.

Out-of-date advice pamphlets – Medical advice is often updated, and pamphlets become out of date. It’s important that patients get the most current advice, so secure destruction of old pamphlets will ensure they won’t leave with the wrong literature.

Staff rotas – You need your staff to be secure, and someone unscrupulous getting hold of their shift patterns could cause them problems. Shredding them is the answer.

Old hard drives – A great deal of data could be left on old hard drives when you upgrade computers and laptops. It’s important this is destroyed correctly. Simply wiping the hard drive can often just mean wiping the sitemap, and the information is still on there in some form. The best way to ensure your security is shredding the hard drive.

Other media such as phone SIMs, USB sticks, and image cards – It’s amazing how much information we have on our smartphones, USB sticks, and image cards these days. They should be treated in the same way as a computer and they should be shredded securely.

Saving your staff time – It can take hours to fill a few bags with shredded items if you’re shredding it yourself. It can also be far too much for your office shredder! They often can’t cope with the amount of shredding which needs to be done in a modern dental practice. So, it’s both cost-effective and a good use of your employees’ time if you outsource this to a secure provider with a proven track record.

Why you should choose Taclus Confidential – A South Wales secure shredding company

We offer confidential paper waste and hard drive destruction services at affordable prices.

We are fully accredited for ISO 9001:2015 for quality management and ISO14001:2015 for environmental management..

We have been selected as the confidential waste management partner for Keep Wales Tidy.

We are the friendliest bunch of people in the business! We are also the best value and offer the best service!

If your GP, dental or healthcare practice is looking for an affordable and secure shredding service in South Wales, or if you need advice on dealing with the secure destruction of confidential waste, call our friendly and efficient team on 02920 676 714, or email [email protected]

Three inspiring male stories for #Movember

Posted on 20th November 201920th November 2019 by megan

This blog writer had to go to Liverpool for a meeting on Monday and it took two taxi journeys, eight hours on a train and a four-hour meeting. It was a looooong day, but throughout the day I spoke to three men, all of whom had different stories to tell – all of them uplifting, inspiring and brilliant examples of what humankind can achieve.

The taxi driver

A 30-year old man from Newport Road (we have two customers from there, Cardiff Sixth Form College and Wales Refugee Council) picked me up at 7.15 in the morning. We talked about where we both came from and he told me of his journey 12 years ago from Eritrea to Cardiff. It took him many months and it was full of extreme hardship – three days and nights on a tiny boat that was so full that he couldn’t sit down, followed by walking and hitching from Italy to Calais. Once at Calais he smuggled himself on a lorry that took him to Bradford where he sought and received asylum. He now has a family, a house and a living and says that some days he wonders if it was all a dream…..but he has the scars to prove that it wasn’t. He told me that each day he is thankful for the life he leads and how grateful he is that he can bring his children up in safety.

The entrepreneur

The reason behind my long day was to meet the founding member of an American company called Handshake. After a tasty superfood salad (wishing I had ordered ham, egg and chips) I walked to the meeting with the founder, a shy and quietly spoken young man who told me that he and his friends had started the company whilst students at university, with the main aim of democratising opportunities for students in the job market today. Of course, the idea is going to make him very rich, but more importantly, he saw an opportunity and had the courage and drive to take the chance. It was clear that the last few years had pushed him emotionally and mentally, and I dread to think how many hours he puts in a week, but he was driven by an idea that he thinks will help others. Side note: the moustache on the right in the pic above is the entrepreneur who has set up Taclus Confidential – like the young American, he works too long and talks too much about this business, but he is driven by the idea that his shredding business will make a difference, not only for the environment, but for businesses.

The chorister

My final inspiring man of the day was a 75 year-old man from Abergavenny. We sat opposite each other on the train from Crewe and in the last 20 minutes of his journey he spoke to my colleague and me. He had travelled down from Northumberland and was still working part-time as an external examiner in carpentry. In the last two years he had joined Beaufort male voice choir. He told us about the huge impact this had had on his life – it has massively increased his self-confidence, he has a whole new group of friends, feels healthier and happier and is using his brain to learn the difficult pieces that were sat in front of him on the train table. And he is never happier than when singing a rousing rendition of Calon Lan with his buds. What a lovely guy! For any of you who heard the amazing sound of the crowd in the Wales qualifier match last night, you will know how amazing Welsh voices can sound!

At the end of the day I was knackered and more than a little grumpy. But as I grumbled to myself (and to the man on the right with the moustache), I thought again about these three men and thought how enjoyable it had been to talk to each one. And I thought about Movember and about the reason behind the charity – tackling prostate cancer, men’s mental health and suicide prevention for men – and how very, very important this charity is.

Back to shredding in the next post, but if you haven’t yet contributed to Movember this month, please consider doing so. At Taclus, we are raising money specifically for Prostate Cancer this year (via Facebook), but you can donate to Movember directly on their site.