Flora Knolton, Author at SEM Shred

Shredding Through Time

July 28, 2020 at 10:00 am by Flora Knolton

Paper shredding can first be accredited to Abbot Augustus Low of New York, who filed a patent for an improved wastepaper receptacle in 1909, sparking the first idea for a paper shredder. Low’s invention was intended for use in banks and counting houses, but unfortunately was never manufactured.

The first known mechanical paper shredder actually was created in Germany in 1935. A man, Adolf Ehinger, was inspired by a hand-crank pasta maker to create a machine to shred sensitive material after being questioned about anti-Nazi literature in his garbage. The machine was cranked inside of a wooden frame that was large enough to handle one sheet of paper. Later in the 1940s, he added a motor to power the shredder and sold the shredders to a host of government entities.

During the cold war, Ehinger’s shredder increased in popularity. In 1959, his company, EBA Maschinenfabrik, created the first cross-cut shredder that cut paper into tiny bits for an increased security level. To this day, EBA Maschinenfabrik continues to design and produce shredders under the name of Krug & Priester, who purchased the business in 1998.

Since Ehinger’s invention, shredders have played a role in many important times in history. Before the 1980s, shredders were nearly exclusively used by the government, military, and banking industry. But in 1987, the U.S Supreme Court that ruled that your garbage, once brought to the curb outside, is considered public property. Come the 1990s, statistics proved how corporate and personal identity theft had skyrocketed. Most of the public wasn’t even aware of the existence of paper shredders until they began to surface in connection with scandals such as Watergate in the 1970s, Iran-Contra in the 1980s, and Enron in 2002. The increase in identity theft and scandals caused concern which led to businesses and individuals burning their paper waste. Because it is so detrimental to the environment, this increase in burning led to laws prohibiting the incineration of trash, which had the effect of businesses and regular citizens turning to paper shredders for secure document disposal. Despite the negative stories and unfair reputation from the media about how they are used to cover the tracks of the guilty, Ehinger’s purpose was to protect the innocent. Throughout the 20^th century, paper shredders have become more secure by using cross-cut methodology and creating smaller shreds.

Privacy laws such as the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act (HIPAA), The Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA), The Family Educational Right and Privacy Act (FERPA) to name a few, render organizations responsible for protecting customer/consumer information. It’s important for businesses to legally comply with these regulations and it is also a best practice for business to routinely destroy data that has outlived retention periods. Shredding paper opens up many environmentally-friendly disposal alternatives that are better than tossing it all in the dumpster.

In 1968, in what is now known as “The Pueblo Incident”, Navy intelligence vessel USS Pueblo was captured by North Korean patrol boats. According to U.S. reports, the Americans tried their best to destroy all the classified information aboard the ship. Unfortunately, with the volume of material on board it was impossible to destroy it all prior to capture. Korean War Veteran and founder of SEM Leonard Rosen was struck with the idea that there has to be a better way to destroy classified information. Within weeks of hearing this news, he had developed the concept for the world’s first paper disintegrator and the SEM legacy of destruction devices had begun. It’s fascinating that Ehinger and Rosen were both motivated by protecting their countries’ intelligence for the greater good of humanity at the time to produce such ideas.

SEM may have coined the term “disintegrator”, but every device from SEM is always quality. SEM’s high security paper shredders are NSA/CSS listed and reduce waste to particles no larger than 1mmx 5mm. All SEM NSA listed paper shredders meet the requirements of the new CUI security regulation that requires CUI documents to be shredded and meet . The Model 344 paper shredder produces particles of 0.8mm X 2.5mm, which is half the size of the current NSA requirements, for those looking for the highest security. Many of SEM’s paper shredders are factory installed with an automatic oiler, but for those looking to reduce their carbon footprint, the Model 1201CC paper shredder may be what’s necessary. The Model 1201CC was the first high security paper shredder tested oil-free by the NSA and listed on the NSA EPL for classified document destruction. Oil free shredders save money on oil refills and are perfect for the eco-conscious consumer.

Buying a paper shredder is an insurance policy that helps protect sensitive information. Our trash is not “our” trash once it’s outside, and its vital to be conscientious about what is being thrown away. Paper shredders have been around for over 100 years now and will continue to be necessary even as more offices vow to go paperless. Paper will still be around, and SEM has all the Classified and Unclassified paper shredders to meet your media destruction needs.

How to Destroy Tipping Foil, RFID and EMV Chips, and Magnetic Stripes in Credit Cards

June 16, 2020 at 10:00 am by Flora Knolton

Tipping foil is used to enhance and secure financial institutions’ cards. The metallic ribbon is fixed on the card’s embossed characters, helping to bring out the embossed characters even more. This results in clearer alphanumeric characters that are easier to read. This ribbon also improves bank card durability, as it’s designed to resist daily wear and tear and to maintain plastic card quality over the years. They are like the “makeup” for the face of the card. Tipping foil is essentially stamped onto the raised lettering during the in-line vertical personalization process. What is important to remember is that the embossed, foiled letters are now reversed on the sheet of foil they were stamped from, much like a typewriter ribbon. The physical impression left behind on the foil is why it is so critical that tipping foil needs to be destroyed prior to throwing away.

However, this method of creating credit/debit cards is currently being phased out. Many years ago, numbers had to be raised and embossed on the front of the card so when it was run through a card reader, an imprinted image of those numbers would appear on a slip of paper for the customers to sign. But traditional magnetic stripes are well on their way out as “microchip” card readers are becoming the new way to pay. Magnetic stripes on cards contain all of the cardholder information needed to make a purchase or duplicate the card. As technology advances, so do the world’s best hackers, and the magnetic stripe is significantly becoming easier for people to steal data from.

The EMV® (Europay, Mastercard, and Visa, after the three credit card networks that originally developed the protocol) credit and debit cards equipped with computer chips are now the global standard used to authenticate transactions. The data stored in a magnetic stripe is stagnant — it is how it is, and always stays the same. On the contrary, the chip in the card generates a unique code for each transaction and is only used once. If a thief were to copy the chip’s information to validate during a transaction, they wouldn’t be able to. No two transaction codes are ever repeated, so each code becomes useless following the completion of the transaction it represents.

The difference between contactless (RFID) transactions and chip transactions is the method by which the data is transferred. Radio frequency-enabled cards require the card to be within a short proximity of the payment terminal, rather than inserting the card into a cheap reader. EMV chip cards and contactless cards are both more secure than the magnetic stripe. Although, cards equipped with chips do not equate to fraudulent immunity by any means. NFC (Near Field Communication) skimming is where EMV-enabled cards can still be subjected to information being stolen. Near field communication skimmers utilize a wireless technology that allows data to transfer from a mobile device to a card reader within a short distance.

Consumers and organizations alike must properly shred their expired or useless cards that contain PII, whether that be in form of an EMV chip or residual printed tipping foil that still withholds information. Luckily, companies like SEM offer a host of devices specifically designed to ensure everyone has the opportunity to securely take control of their personal data and destroy it once and for all.

The Model DS-400 is one of our top multipurpose turnkey disintegrators. This powerhouse high security model was evaluated by the NSA, listed on the NSA/CSS EPL, and specifically designed to destroy metal cards and license plates. This device can also securely destroy classified paper and CDs as well as other unclassified media stored on smaller forms of e-media such as flash and thumb drives, solid state drives (SSDs), and SIM chips.

The Model 0205NANO is just one part of a revolutionary SSD destroyer duo. The NANO is a mobile crushing solution that was solely designed for the destruction of the world’s smallest forms solid state media. From Compact Flash Type 1 drives to SOIC-8 and SD cards to PLCC-32 drives, the 0205NANO crushes the SSD beyond recovery by the specially crafted and designed internal rotors.

The second solution in the 0205 SSD disintegrator duo is the Model 0205MICRO. Like the NANO, the MICRO was specifically designed to destroy a wide variety of other SSD media such as, cell phones, PC boards, IronKeys, small tablets, and more.

The key to understanding how to destroy something properly is by first having an understanding of how said technology works. A number of our disintegrators would also do the job for destroying tipping foil, EMV chips, SSDs, and various media, at a number of different volumes. We also have devices that can easily destroy tough metal credit cards.

Classified or unclassified, there’s a way to destroy it. Leaving data in a stockpiled room “unsure of what to do” with it is not excusable, and yet many still haven’t educated themselves further to see how their negligence is putting their lives and companies at risk. Mitigate those risks today and be smart when handling personally identifiable information (PII) with Security Engineered Machinery. We’re always eager to help answer questions and can assure you we will help you meet your destruction requirements.

One Person’s Trash Really is Another’s Treasure

June 15, 2020 at 9:02 pm by Flora Knolton

It is typical for companies to focus more on the security of their digital network than on physical protection of documents and data. Physical security tends to fall by the wayside even though it’s fairly easy for criminals to go dumpster diving. If the organization doesn’t end up losing all important assets in a breach, it’s common it could still suffer from irreversible brand damage. In 2007, Radio Shack dumped more than 20 boxes containing personally identifiable information (PII) for thousands of customers. A man found rummaging through the dumpster found the boxes and reported it. Shortly following, the State of Texas filed a civil lawsuit against Radio Shack for exposing its customers to identity theft. The state’s lawsuit claims the company “failed to safeguard the information by shredding, erasing, or other means, to make it unreadable or undecipherable before disposing of its business records.” Cases like this are common, and identity theft has become a major problem worldwide.

The Recycling Myth

Many believe that recycling is a very different process from trash processing and somewhat safer in terms of data security. This understanding is far from the truth. People mostly understand that trash ends up in landfills where anyone could find sensitive material. At the same time, many people often think that recycling is safer for confidential documents since they will be destroyed and repurposed instead of being shipped to a landfill. In actuality, recycling is not transported securely. In fact, recycling trucks look like every other garbage truck, where documents and other personally identifiable information (PII) will be blowing around in the truck before being dropped off at the recycling facility. On average, recyclables sit on sorting floors from anywhere from 2-4 weeks before being destroyed. The remnants don’t sort themselves either; dozens of employees’ sort what the machines cannot and will have access to documents before they are destroyed. As opposed to destroying the documents yourself, there is absolutely no way of proving sensitive information has been destroyed when you send it to the recycler.

Protect the Customers and Employees, Protect the Business

Consumer privacy legislation has been increasing around the United States within the last few years. Recent laws such as the NY SHIELD Act and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) are giving consumers more rights relating to their access and deletion of sharing personal information that is collected by businesses. These laws give consumers a large amount of freedom over their personal information, which could open up a host of severe penalties and lawsuits for companies that fail to comply with these regulations. This trend is also being seen in other nations such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and India’s Personal Protection Bill, and it is expected to continue on this uptick everywhere in the near future. Knowing this, there is a heavier weight on organizations to protect customers’ personal and secure information or the company will be at risk for mishandling said information and could be subject to harsh monetary penalties. Employees have the same legal right to privacy as customers and expect their employer to keep their information secure as well. At the end of the day, the stakeholders will pull the most weight, and it’s important to treat their information the same as how you’d want your own sensitive information dealt with/disposed of.

Secure Your Disposal of Records

Businesses have a choice when it comes to how they want to dispose of their paper records, usually weighing the convenience, cost, and legal risks involved with complying to their industries’ standards or regulations. In U.S. government law, secure disposal is required when a record contains classified, controlled unclassified (CUI), or personally identifiable information (PII) such as address, phone number, names, emails, social security numbers, and more that can be used to identify an individual. It’s easy to consider the cost when opting for a third-party shredding company, but can you really be certain that all the documents are being shredded? It’s impossible to tell. Despite widespread adoption of electronic health record systems, most hospitals still use both paper and electronic documents for patient care. Healthcare cyberattacks overall are on the rise, with nearly 32 million patient records breached in 2019. It’s crucial to find a balance between digital security and physical destruction in the workplace. Increasing communication between colleagues so they are informed of appropriate processes can help mitigate potential breaches in regard to disposing of information no longer retained by the institution.

No matter what the industry, at SEM we have many high-quality NSA Listed/CUI and unclassified paper shredders to meet any regulation. For those looking for an eco-friendly device that’s also listed on the NSA EPL for Paper Shredders, we recommend the Model 1201CC High Security Shredder. It was tested oil-free by the NSA for classified document destruction due to its specially designed cutting head that is also fully replaceable, lowering total cost of ownership. Destroying physical data in-house may seem like a costly purchase in the short term but could send up saving a company exponentially in the long run by preventing breach. With regular maintenance, a quality shredder such as the 1201CC can last a lifetime. We’re happy to help answer any questions concerning personal or regulated shredding needs.

Security Engineered Machinery Donates to Local Habitat for Humanity #BeamOfHope Fund

June 4, 2020 at 3:41 pm by Flora Knolton

Security Engineered Machinery Co., Inc. (SEM), global leader in high security information end-of-life solutions, donated $2,500 to the Habitat for Humanity MetroWest/Greater Worcester (Habitat) #BeamOfHope fund to support local veteran families in need during the coronavirus crisis. During a fundraising drive in the month of May, SEM employees pledged $1,250 and SEM provided a 100% match.

“During the current pandemic, Habitat for Humanity made a plea for some desperately-needed funds, and SEM answered the call,” commented Nicholas Cakounes, SEM Executive Vice President. “We’ve partnered with this incredible organization in the past, and we’d hate to see this crisis leave them unable to assist veterans who are struggling to find or keep housing.”

As a Veteran-owned company that supplies critical equipment to the Department of Defense and other government organizations, SEM is committed to Habitat’s mission of assisting Veterans. Since 2018, SEM has participated annually in Operation Playhouse, a unique program offered through Habitat for Humanity enabling local businesses and organizations to build and donate a custom playhouse to benefit the children of local veterans and military personnel. Habitat’s #BeamOfHope Crisis Fund was implemented as the organization is struggling for revenue amid a crisis where not many people are suited to donate due to the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic. SEM stands with Habitat in hopes they can continue serving those most in need.

“We were honored to give to Habitat for Humanity as their non-profit does so much good for veterans who need homes. We hope this donation along with others helps them serve those who need it most and to survive this financial crisis,” added David DiTullio, SEM’s Vice President of Finance.

Deborah Huegel, Vice President of Philanthropy of Metrowest Habitat for Humanity, commented, “We are so grateful for SEM’s support of local veteran families, especially during this health crisis when so many families are having a tough time surviving the economy’s upheaval. SEM has been and is a wonderful supporter, and we thank them from the bottom of our hearts for being so generous! It will be put to good use protecting those who are vulnerable.”

SEM’s 2020 Operation Playhouse build, originally scheduled for this past May, has been postponed to October of 2020 due to COVID-19.

New CUI Directive Defines Latest Targets and Final Implementation Dates for all Executive Branches

May 27, 2020 at 8:46 pm by Flora Knolton

The Latest ISOO announcement details new target dates for policy, training, and implementation.

WESTBOROUGH, MA, May 26, 2020 —On 14 May 2020, the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) released CUI Notice 2020-01: CUI Program Implementation Deadlines (the “Notice”), which includes specific dates of implementation and deadlines for affected government agencies that handle or store Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). The Notice applies to all Executive Branch agencies.

The Notice references 30 June 2020 as the deadline for the initialization of an awareness campaign for workforces within agencies that have access to CUI. By this date it is expected that relevant agencies will be able to define and identify potential CUI within an office as well as summarize the actionable plan the office will follow to properly store, dispose, and in the case of legacy material, re-mark and reuse said CUI information.

The deadline for agencies to draft their policies detailing CUI guidelines moving forward is 31 December 2020. By this date, now current policies must be rescinded or modified with a policy that satisfies the new mandates set by ISOO for individual agencies to follow, and these policies will be implemented over the course of the following calendar year. The use of any Classification Marking Tools (CMTs) in the labeling and marking of CUI materials must also be updated by the 31 December 2020 date.

“The CUI implementation timeline is a critical step towards data security in the U.S.,” said Andrew Kelleher, President and CEO of Security Engineered Machinery (SEM). “We applaud ISOO for their tireless efforts in safeguarding CUI. By ensuring all agencies are storing, labeling, and destroying CUI data appropriately, we can help protect government agencies and the citizens of our country as a whole.”

All physical safeguards must be in place by 31 December 2021, including how an agency ensures CUI is kept out of sight and out of reach from those who do not have access. All agencies that store CUI information in Federal Information Systems must additionally have those systems updated and configured to no lower than Moderate Confidentiality impact value, as outlined in 32 CFR 2002.14.

In addition, training on the policy for an agency’s workforce including sub-agencies must be implemented and completed by 31 December 2021. This includes detailing CUI’s purpose, individual responsibility, and destruction requirements. Destruction requirements for end-of-life CUI should be as detailed as possible and, at a minimum, follow specifications outlined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Special Publication 800-88, Guidelines for Media Sanitization. It should be noted that NIST 800-88 specifically states that paper containing sensitive information such as CUI must be destroyed to a 1mmx5mm final particle size at end-of-life, which is the same final particle specification as classified information destruction.

“Technology advancements have made it easier for criminals to reconstruct data, whether on digital or traditional media,” added Heidi White, SEM’s Director of Marketing. “Ensuring that end-of-life media is destroyed to the appropriate specifications, which for CUI is NIST 800-88 standards, cannot be overstated.”

The Notice can be read in its entirety here.

Paper and CDs and Drives, Oh My!

May 19, 2020 at 10:00 am by Flora Knolton

When destroying data or media, the goal is to have it rendered useless and left unrecoverable. Destroying data means it’s no longer possible for the files to be read by an application or system. In reality, information can stay on hard drives long after a file has been deleted, so physical destruction should always be a part of the decommissioning process. Consider an investigation by the UK’s information Commissioner’s Office. This study found that one-in-ten second-hand hard drives still contain the original user’s personal information. Of the 200 hard disks they purchased on eBay, 11% contained Personally Identifiable Information (PII), and two of the drives contained enough information to steal the former owners’ identities. More and more companies are being run digitally each year and are depending on electronic media to secure their data, and at the end of their lifecycle, these storage media must be securely destroyed to maintain data security. When destroying data, it’s important for organizations to consider the cost and time while making sure their methods are up to par with industry specific regulations such as General Data Protect Regulations (GDPR), NSA Guidelines for Media Sanitization, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 800-88, to name a few. While cost is a factor, without an investment in such destruction devices, a breach may cost the company exponentially in the long run.

For paper, SEM has many NSA evaluated shredders on the Evaluated Products List (EPL) prepared by the NSA along with Unclassified Paper Shredders and Optical/Mixed Media Destroyers are designed to specifically destroy all different types of e-media like CDs, DVDs, key tape, Blu-ray Discs (BDs), credit cards, ID badges, and key access cards. The Model 0201 optical media shredder is a high capacity optical media shredder listed on the NSA EPL for CD destruction. It accepts classified CDs as well as unclassified DVDs and BDs, is TAA compliant, and includes a basic start-up kit with lubricating sheets and anti-static waste collection bags. The Model 0200 OMD/SSD is similar to the Model 0201; however, it is a slower machine that can also destroy classified DVDs, BDs, credits cards, magnetic stripe cards, CAC IDs, and SIM cards. Compact and easy to use, these two devices are perfect for meeting NSA requirement for various forms of media.

For most magnetic media, a crusher or shredder used on its own can be acceptable, but for classified hard drives they must be degaussed prior to crushing or shredding. Degaussing renders the magnetic media scrambled, unreadable, and unusable. This two-step data sanitization is mandated by the Department of Defense for classified data, and data centers implement this best practice for end-of-life data destruction. Normally, physical destruction alone (either crushing or shredding) is the most common method of disposal for unclassified Hard Disc Drives (HDDs); however, security-focused organizations utilize the DoD’s degauss and destroy recommendation. The Model EMP1000-HS has been evaluated by the NSA and is listed on the NSA EPL for high security degaussers and can be easily transported to the location of media for onsite

erasure and declassification. This degausser is also perfect for commercial users as well as those who prefer to have a built-in verification system ensuring each cycle is degaussed successfully with no error. After degaussing, we’d recommend our Model 0101 hard drive crusher for most lower volume applications. At the touch of a button, the 0101 will deliver 12,000 pounds of force to destroy the internal platter of an HDD. The SEM Model 0101 hard drive crusher is the only unit with a chamber large enough to fit hard drives with mounted rails or handles left on. An alternative to crushing depending on your destruction needs, hard drive shredders like the Model 0300 are ideal for small to medium volumes, while larger devices like our Model 0305 are perfect for enterprise drives and higher volumes. No one offers as many HDD shredders as SEM that are noted on the NSA/CSS EPL as meeting step two of the degauss and destroy mandate.

When destroying enterprise drives in higher volumes, we recommend our enterprise solutions, such as the Model 2SSD solid state drive disintegrator. The 2SSD is composed of a two-stage cutting system to destroy enterprise drives that are larger, heavier, and denser than standard solid state drives. This rugged device can take up to 180 enterprise SSDs per hour at 2mm squared particles. For applications with both HDDs and SSDs, SEM’s HDD/SSD combo shredders are the ideal solution. The Model 0315 HDD/SSD combo system uses specially designed saw tooth hook cutters to chew up rotational hard drives at 1.50” particle size and solid state drives with a particle size of 0.375”. In addition to hard drives, this device will also accept cell phones, optical media, memory sticks, thumb drives, PCBs, and other electronic storage media!

SEM also offers a complete line of all-in-one office solutions that are ideal for the destruction of classified, Unclassified, CUI, and PII in office environments. A perfect all-around media destroyer that is user-friendly for office environments would be our OfficeShredHS for an all-in-one NSA listed paper and optical media shredder that meets the NSA’s 2mm DVD and BD destruction requirement. In addition, we are pleased to offer Comprehensive Office All-In-One Solutions for our SEM direct customers. These solutions are pre-made to fit your specific destruction requirements. Not finding exactly what you need? Do not hesitate to call, email, or chat with us to customize a solution that’s not detailed on our website. We’re always happy to help!

Death of a Casino Chip

April 25, 2020 at 9:00 am by Flora Knolton

Casino chips are the casino’s form of currency when playing any game like poker, blackjack, roulette, and so on. It seems like a simple piece of plastic on the outside; however, it is packed with advanced technology on the inside to benefit the casinos.

Poker first took off during the nineteenth century in the Wild West of America. Poker chips hadn’t been developed yet and instead players would use valuable items like gold and gold dust to bet with. Gambling houses and saloons would give players pieces of clay, bone, or ivory to gamble with to keep track of what was being bet. Clay and bone, however, are easy to replicate and forge fakes. This counterfeiting caused saloons and gambling houses to start branding their own unique symbols to differentiate them from the forgeries. This may have curbed some fraud, but people continued to create replicas up until the end of the nineteenth century when companies started to create uniform chips. These chips were made from clay and were one of the most recognizable characteristics of a casino.

Chips have progressed with society and the composition makeup of casino chips is currently harder to forge than American currency. To protect both patrons and the casinos themselves, security measures have always been put in place by casino owners. There were times when you couldn’t distinguish a counterfeit chip from a genuine one. However, with uprising of plastic and technology so much has changed. Casino chips are still branded with the casino’s name, but the technological advancement that has taken place inside of them is what’s really captivating through its evolution. RFID technology (radio frequency identification) involves putting microchips into the casino chips, allowing RFID readers to pick up their unique radio frequency. Modern chips also often contain unique serial numbers, complex ultraviolet markings, holograms, and microdots. Ultraviolet markings allow for tracking of chips without alarming or upsetting customers. Held under a blacklight the markings will appear. However, the RFID technology are the chips electronic tag that houses its data, monetary value, and activity, as well as the serial number. Chips will automatically become deactivated the moment they leave the premises. Generally, the value of chips can range between $1 and $5,000 between the varying chip colors.

Before any regulations were introduced in Nevada, casino chips regularly went to die in nearby lakes such as Lake Mead or built into the foundations of casinos upon their demolition for presumed superstitious reasons. Many have also been found in the deserts of Las Vegas melted, with just the metal inserts remaining. But technology has improved vastly since these means of disposing casino chips. Since, casinos must arrange the destruction of their chips according to expiration dates. When a casino chip’s expiration is coming to a close, it’s either sent back to the manufacturer or it is destroyed in-house with industrial disintegrators that grind them into a fine powder. They sometimes can end up in landfills after that, but many companies are currently managing to recycle some of the materials now.

It’s best to rely on destroying your game pieces like casino chips in-house rather than submitting them to potential fraud with third party vendors. Like any other media, each point of contact in a casino chip’s end-of-life journey exponentially increases the chance some sort of fraudulent activity may arise. Destroying casino chips in-house mitigates any potential threat from outside parties. Casinos throughout the world are using SEM equipment to destroy their used dice, chips, playing cards, ID badges, electronic keys, and more. Shredding high volumes of chips requires an industrial shredder that will grind them down to disintegrated powder. Here at SEM, we have NSA listed disintegrators that will suit all gaming destruction needs. Our Model 1012/5, perfect for a smaller settings, can handle optical media, gaming pieces like chips, paper, and a variety of media in various waste particle sizes. NSA rated at 600 lbs. per hours, our Model 23 disintegrator is ideal for those with a heavier volume of casino chips or various media alike. For extra heavy duty, high volume media disintegrating we recommend our Model 1436 which provides NSA rated destruction at 1,800 lbs. per hour. Depending on the needs of the casino, SEM has every device necessary to properly and efficiently disintegrate chips as intended since 1987.

Repurposing an Out of Spec Shredder

April 12, 2020 at 1:00 pm by Flora Knolton

Here at SEM, we understand that meeting the NSA’s changing requirements for paper and optical media shredders can prove challenging. When specifications change without warning, we all have to quickly adapt. When this point comes, our customers often ask us, “Well, if I can’t use this anymore due to new regulations, what CAN I do with it?” We’ve actually laid out a few things that would be worth your while if you find yourself in one of these situations.

If your paper or optical media shredder stops working, we recommend disassembling it with a technician and recycling the separated parts accordingly. However, due to the high quality manufacturing involved in creating these devices, we realize that many of you may have very well-functioning shredders when the requirements change. For working shredders, we’d advise donating your technology to a charity or becoming one yourself. Many charities such as Center for Democracy & Technology, who have been protecting online civil liberties and human rights for the internet, will accept your out of spec shredders.

Becoming your own charity would be a kind idea if you can afford to keep the device in yours or another location. For good PR or to help the local public, your organization could hold a community shredding event for the greater good of everyone. Inside AND outside the workplace, everyone is playing critical roles in protecting confidential information. Promoting information security events will not only help the local community but would support a culture of security to employees and confirm their trust with their employer. This could be your company’s new team building day, but with the added bonus of benefitting the entire neighborhood. Not only could this improve your company’s reputation, it will also improve the local communities’ quality of life by providing critical data privacy services. These types of community shredding events are often free, and people are invited to bring a couple boxes or so of confidential papers that need to be securely destroyed. Coming full circle to the aforementioned charities, this shredding event can even be held at a low cost, noting that all the proceeds will be going to a specified charity. By demonstrating to the public that your organization adheres to a secure chain of custody and allowing them to see the industrial grade shredders needed for the work at your business, good things are bound to be afoot. It should also be noted that community shredding events can promote recycling, and we’re all looking to reduce our carbon footprint! Seventeen trees saved per ton of paper can absorb a total of 250 lbs. of carbon dioxide from the air each year. Burning that same ton of paper would create 1,500 lbs. of carbon dioxide. Document security and environmental responsibility can coexist!

If holding your own shredding charity event isn’t feasible due to your facility’s restrictions, or not having the time to hold such an event, it’s still possible to donate to someone who is in need of a high security shredder. Just because someone isn’t in a federal branch of the government or following NSA guidelines for their organization doesn’t mean that they don’t have confidential information needing to be destroyed. Non-profit organizations generally do not have nearly as much revenue as for-profit organizations. For-profits use technology strategically to maintain their profit margins and increase market share, whereas non-profits’ mission is to create public value. Technology like a high security shredder might not be at the forefront of what they think need in their organization. But non-profits, like any company, have multitudes of information about employees and the people these charities serve. That’s a lot of personally identifiable information (PII) that could potentially fall into the wrong hands and wreak havoc. Giving your shredder to one of these non-profit organizations would make a lot of people happy. Clients, donators, employees, and more will finally have their data securely destroyed at a place that may be at high risk of a breach due to their lack of technology. Indeed, most non-profits would benefit from integrating a shredder into their chain of custody to enhance their overall organization’s safety, and even an outdated SEM device will be far superior to anything they could pick up at an office supply store in terms of both build quality and overall security.

We at SEM hope you choose what best fits your needs when bidding adieu to your hardworking shredder. While your out-of-spec shredder may not be up to par with NSA requirements, it can still provide value for years to come through charitable donations, shredding events, or at the last, recycled parts.

All About TAA Compliance

March 26, 2020 at 6:34 pm by Flora Knolton

TAA stands for Trade Agreements Act, which enables fair and honest international trade and thus requires the U.S. government to only acquire end products from designated countries. This means specifically that the General Services Administration (GSA) must only acquire U.S.–made and/or TAA compliant products. Not everyone on the globe is TAA compliant, which makes it especially hard to source equipment from countries such as China, Russia, India, and Malaysia, and companies who sell products to the U.S. government from these countries are subject to liability. In contrast, a number of European countries, Caribbean Basin countries, Japan, Canada, the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Australia are designated countries that are TAA compliant. Many contractors think they can acquire these goods from third-party vendors, or companies located in these countries, without realizing that just because these goods are sold at the local Target does not mean the government can acquire them from the contractor. TAA requirements are built into contracts such as GSA and most Department of Defense (DoD) contracts. In fact, all products offered for sale to government entities under GSA schedule contracts must be TAA compliant, regardless of cost.

Clearly, the government has made TAA compliance implementation a priority. With that being said, TAA auditing has led to many businesses being suspended from federal contracting altogether due to non-compliance. TAA auditing, in a sense, is also what competitors are doing to each other. A whistleblower lawsuit filed by one competitor resulted in four office-supply companies paying $27 million in penalties for TAA violations. Regardless of how the violation is exposed, lying to the federal government about TAA compliance status can have serious consequences, from hefty fines to a ban from federal contracting to potential business closure from negative publicity and loss of revenue.

Without a General Services Administration (GSA) schedule contract, it becomes more difficult to sell to contractors. Ensuring TAA compliance is simple enough: choose to work with a reputable manufacturer who can certify their compliance status and back it up with documentation. GSA will also work with schedule contractors to ensure TAA compliance by conducting audits and scheduling periodic product checks. A company who is not a product’s original equipment manufacturer (OEM) should verify with countries of origin quarterly or with catalog updates from suppliers. If a manufacturing source changes within the span of a contract, products will then fall out of compliance and must immediately be removed from the GSA schedule.

TAA compliance requires that companies who sell to the Federal Government only sell products manufactured or “substantially transformed” in the United States or that are made in TAA designated countries, including nations that currently have free trade agreements with the United States. To put it in easily understandable terms, substantially transformed simply means that at least 50% of the product’s overall manufacture cost must originate from the US or TAA designated countries. Many companies have situations where their products are assembled in several countries; however, as long as a minimum of fifty percent of the production is completed in a TAA compliant country, the end product is considered to be TAA compliant. When importing materials from outside the U.S., it’s crucial to know what is TAA compliant. Being aware of these key points will help businesses stay in compliance:

Always retain all documents and agreements from your supplier.
Always have the proper documentation of the country origin, whether that be their origin code or marking.
Stay up to date on U.S Customs border patrol protection information.
Seek professional help from a lawyer if you’ve had many sales in a country that is not TAA compliant

Understanding TAA compliance standards can be difficult. For over 50 years, SEM has been meeting all appropriate regulatory requirements for destroying classified and sensitive information, including TAA compliance. We strive to educate our clients to successfully stay compliant navigating through these complex TAA requirements. From paper to hard drives to various mixed media, SEM provides TAA compliant data destruction devices to meet any volume or security regulation.

How to Recycle Batteries

March 19, 2020 at 9:05 pm by Flora Knolton

How to Recycle Batteries

At some point in your life you’ve probably wondered whether or not batteries are able to be recycled nearing the end of your cell phone or tablet’s life. It’s crucial that devices have their batteries removed prior to any destruction. Force from the hardware surrounding the battery during physical destruction can cause damage to the electrodes or the separator and lead to short circuiting. Inadequate venting or thermal management can cause the battery to heat up. If too hot, chemical reactions can cause it to heat up even more and spiral out of control. It’s a situation called thermal runaway that often ends in an explosion or fire once oxygen is introduced. So always remember to remove batteries prior to destroying any IT device, and remember, those batteries can be recycled! All batteries contain very different chemical makeups and therefore it is imperative disposed of differently for your safety; here’s how:

Lead acid batteries require a longer process than others to recycle, but the end result is worth it. After they are crushed into pieces, the broken battery is then placed into a vat. The lead and heavy materials fall to the bottom and the plastic floats. The polypropylene pieces are then brushed aside and separated from the lead and heavy metals. Each of the materials then goes into its separate recycling “stream”.

The plastic polypropylene pieces are washed and then melted into a liquid state. When the liquid hardens the plastic is then turned into smaller plastic pellets and the cycle restarts as these pellets are then used for manufacturing other battery cases. The lead parts of the battery are melted to separate the impurities from the ingots. The impurities get swept away while the ingots such as gold or steel are sent back for manufacturing of new batteries. Sulfuric acid is the last material to be dealt with when recycling lead acid batteries. Firstly, you can neutralize the acid with an industrial compound similar to baking soda, and this neutralization will turn the acid into water. The water is then tested and treated by a water treatment plant to be sure it meets standards of clean water. The second way to recycle the sulfuric acid is to convert the acid to sodium sulfate. Sodium sulfate is an odorless powder that is used in detergent and textile manufacturing. Lead acid batteries are pretty neat considering almost every part of the old battery (nearly 98%!) is repurposed for new batteries.

Alkaline batteries (AAA, AA, C, D, 9V, etc.) are separated into three end products — metal, plastic, and paper, generally — through a mechanical separation. Alkaline batteries contain manganese, steel and zinc, all of which are naturally occurring metals that pose no threat to the environment. These types of batteries do not exhibit any of the following criteria to be classified as hazardous by the EPA: ignitability, corrosivity, reactivity and toxicity. As such, they are not listed as hazardous waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), so they can be safely disposed of in household trash or general waste.

Lithium Ion batteries are recycled in a process that also separates them into three end products: cobalt and lithium salt concentrate; stainless steel; and copper, aluminum, and plastic. Cobalt, copper, and other metals found in lithium ion batteries can readily leak from the casing of buried batteries and contaminate soil and groundwater, threatening ecosystems and human health, says Zhi Sun, a specialist in pollution control at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Lithium-ion batteries are compact, complex devices, come in a variety of sizes and shapes, and are not designed to be disassembled. Each cell contains a cathode, anode, separator, and electrolyte. All of these products again are able to be recycled into new batteries!

Nickel-Cadmium batteries first are separated into metal and plastic components. The metals, such as iron, nickel, manganese, and chromium, get tossed into an essentially high melting point metal bath to separate from lower melting point metals like zinc and cadmium. Once separated the zinc and cadmium are then recycled with the plastics to be reused for new batteries.

Nickel Metal Hydride batteries are removed from their cells. The cells go through a drying process to remove moisture (the potassium hydroxide electrolyte and H20) from the battery. During the drying process, the cells are heated in a time- and temperature-controlled manner. Once completely dried, the cells become valuable feedstock for stainless steel or alloy manufacturers.

Mercury batteries are decreasing in usage, fortunately, due to the Mercury-Containing Rechargeable Battery Management Act of 1996. This act prohibits the sale of certain types of mercury-containing batteries in the United States. However, when they are recycled, mercury and other heavy metals are normally extracted through a controlled-temperature process.

Zinc-Carbon (AAA, AA, C, D, 9V, etc.) and Zinc-Air batteries are recycled the same way as alkaline batteries mentioned above by using high temperature metal reclamation to melt them and then repurpose them into new batteries.

It’s important to dispose of batteries properly so they don’t end up in landfills polluting our environment further. It’s integral in these times that we conserve our natural resources like metals and minerals for longevity down the road. Improperly disposing of batteries can lead to many chaotic outcomes. Battery-powered devices ready for destruction can be harmful to the environment as well as yourself. Leaving a battery in a device that you will be storing or destroying can drain the battery and lead to some unpleasant surprises, like leaks and explosions. By knowing the chemistry of each battery and the proper way of disposing of them, we are taking a step in preventing pollution by reducing the need to collect untouched, raw materials, which puts a strain on our planet.

https://www.batterysolutions.com/recycling-information/how-are-batteries-recycled/

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Author: Flora Knolton