Eye on the Market

Unwelcome Reconstruction

Secure destruction seeks to render documents into a format that irretrievably destroys the information, preventing it from falling into criminal hands.

Unfortunately, criminals are also destroying documents to cover their tracks, prompting research into ways to re-assemble shredded documents.

One such company working on this "reconstruction" effort is ChurchStreet Technology Inc., Houston, which has developed software that "will allow [law enforcement] agencies to both work with classified material, as well as speed the recovery of sensitive information thought to have been destroyed."

Says ChurchStreet President and CEO Cody Ford, "We have developed a state-of-the-art suite of powerful recovery tools that will enable the quick recovery of shredded information at the client’s site."

ChurchStreet is targeting its new technology to law enforcement and intelligence agencies.

While information destruction professionals can be proud of the advances they have made in protecting confidential information, the criminal element appears to be advancing as well.

Privacy advocates who worry about cellular phones with picture-taking abilities may have ammunition beyond the occasional locker room voyeur.

Media reports have detailed a new identity theft technique that involves using a combination cell phone-camera to shoot images of customers as they use automatic teller machines (ATMs) or make other transactions.

Presumably, such saved images can yield an account number, and, depending on the timing and the quality of the shots, even the accompanying PIN (personal identification number).

A report from a Sacramento, Calif., news organization calls the technique "shoulder surfing" and quotes a source from Sacramento’s law enforcement community who notes these criminals pretend to be in a phone conversation while instead using the phone’s camera to capture data.

Media attention to security breaches is increasingly focused on technological shortcomings, as Internet and e-mail system security issues have captured the public’s attention. But the earlier focus on "Dumpster diving" appears to have paid off for the shredding and document destruction industries.

A recent Reuters report notes, "The rise in identity theft, while a nightmare for tens of millions of Americans, has done wonders for the shredding industry."

It cites a figure from Staples Inc., Framingham, Mass., that it experienced a 50 percent increase in the sale of shredders in 2003, while Office Max, Shaker Heights, Ohio, witnessed a 30 percent increase.

The Reuters report also notes that Fellowes Inc., an Itasca, Ill.-based maker of smaller shredders, reported a 25 percent jump in sales in 2003.

The report also quotes National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) Executive Director Robert Johnson as saying that 2003 was a year of double-digit growth for the industry represented by NAID.