RIP A CD, RIP IT TO SHREDS

Most everyone agrees that one of the hottest computer technology issues today is security. What with computer viruses looking to destroy our precious data, firewalls trying to keep out intruders and copy-protection schemes put in place to prevent unauthorized duplication, keeping safe our computers and the data within them has become priority one. Going online without anti-virus software and a firewall should be unthinkable. And anyone who has tried to copy a legitimately purchased performance download has most certainly experienced Digital Rights Management copy-protection. All of these security issues have something in common in that they deal with all things virtual. But what do you do when it comes to protection in the real world?

When I say the real world, I'm referring to hard copy. That's the physical output that comes from your digital computer. Take word processing for example. Sending documents to your printer moves a copy of the digital text onto paper which anyone can then read. To protect it, you either have to lock it away somewhere or destroy it when it is no longer needed. And while you can certainly put a match to it, the more accepted and highly effective method of paper disposal in the office place these days is the shredder. After all, even the smallest bonfire in a trash basket will more than likely set off the fire sprinklers and make the office smell very bad. So if shredding has proven to be the best method of disposal, why not apply it to other types of physical computer output such the commonplace CD and DVD? It turns out that Primera (www.primera.com) was probably thinking the very same thing since they have recently introduced their DS360 Disc Shredder.

The DS360 is a compact unit that easily fits under your desk or just put it on top. Standing a mere 7.5 inches tall, the DS360 has a single slot on its top into which you can insert any optical disk. The heavy duty motor automatically engages the moment you insert the disk and turns itself off when the shredding is over. In around five seconds, your disk is instantly shredded into tiny cross-cut 1.25 inch pieces that are around 3/16ths of an inch wide. To insure a clean operation and avoid any jamming, the DS360 can also automatically reverse the shredding blades if necessary. All of the remains fall into a large transparent wastebasket drawer in the DS360 that can easily hold the contents of dozens of shredded media. Simply pull out the drawer when it gets full and dump it. You can also use the DS360 to shred other types of difficult to dispose of items such as credit cards and folded paper.

Primera's shredder comes to us in a timely manner in that as of June 1, 2005, the "Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act" law goes into effect. It requires individuals and businesses that possess or maintain consumer personal information for a business purpose to take reasonable measures to protect against unauthorized access to the information. Basically, consumer credit and personal information must be destroyed (i.e. shredded or burned) rather than merely throwing it into the trash. The new law applies not only to paper records, but also to physical media such as CDs and DVDs.

Just the other day I had to destroy a CD which contained some financial data. Have you ever tried to manually break a CD? Let me tell you it's not a pretty sight. In fact, it could even endanger your vision. When I tried to bend the CD in half, the result was an explosive-like pop that literally shattered the disk. Tiny little razor-sharp jagged shards flew out everywhere and covered the floor. I was completely startled and obviously very lucky that one of those tiny pieces didn't find its way into my eyes. So a word of caution to anyone trying to break an optical disk in their hands. Don't.

If you store sensitive data on optical media and you have a need to totally destroy these disks from time to time, there's no better way to insure their destruction than by using the DS360 shredder from Primera. $129.95.

www.primera.com