Editor's Focus--Personal Problem

Finding the good news within the bad news can be a delicate exercise, as certainly victims of bad news deserve time to grieve. In the case of the boom in identity theft and credit fraud crimes, information protection companies that rub their hands with anticipation when another identity theft crime hits the news must be careful about crossing this line.

Without question, companies that properly collect, store and destroy confidential information have been given a lot of ammunition recently. This type of news can increase business in many ways, but one of the most guaranteed factors appears to be a very personal one.

That is to say, once a person is the victim of an identity theft or credit card account "hijacking" crime, there is a very good chance that he or she will take steps to introduce more information protection measures in the workplace. Trying to straighten out personal finances messed by an identity theft ring is no longer "someone else’s problem."

The impact of a growing number of victims can be seen at the smallest of businesses and offices as well as at much higher levels. News reports indicated that several U.S. senators and federal employees were among the victims of one information breach earlier this year.

While one would like to think that Congress was already concerned about victims of identity theft and "hijacked" bank and credit card accounts, it is reasonable to speculate that this particular information breach probably kicked federal inquiries and proposed legislation into higher gear.

When talking with information destruction professionals, they often mention the compounding effect of a greater number of victims.

This combined effect has probably made selling document destruction services increasingly important and increasingly easy at the same time. The job is easier on the one hand because any given advertisement, direct-mail piece or telemarketing campaign should yield a higher percentage of responses than a similar effort would have just a few years ago. After all, more of the intended targets of the message have become familiar with the importance of keeping information confidential.

While this may make the task easier, it concurrently makes it more important. It is difficult to say whether information destruction companies will ever have a better opportunity to connect with first-time customers than in 2005.

Succeeding years may bring more of the same in terms of opportunity, but a business owner should not assume market conditions will last indefinitely.

As it stands, the sales and marketing teams at confidential shredding firms have many stories to tell and they are likely to encounter many sympathetic ears.