Small businesses failing to secure against ID theft

Steps to shred sensitive documents seem like common sense, but large numbers of SMEs are failing to act to prevent criminals from taking advantage of lax security, according to a new survey released today as part of a national campaign to prevent identity fraud.

Nearly a third of UK businesses have fallen victim to fraud and 1 in 3 employees say they simply throw sensitive documents into normal rubbish bins, rather than waste baskets destined for shredding or secure disposal.

National Identify Fraud Prevention Week (NIDFPW) is designed to raise awareness of issues around ID theft for businesses and consumers alike and is backed by government, police, public sector and private businesses.

According to one company behind the scheme, which sells shredders (unsurprisingly!), 79% of small businesses make no effort to destroy sensitive documents bound for landfill or recycling.

To help raise awareness among businesses and to offer practical advice and tips, NIDFPW has launched a new ID fraud prevention website.

With banks and government agencies all failing to protect data in some high profile cases over the last 18 month, the site could well prove a useful resource for businesses large and small.

[Picture credit: Peat Bakke licenced from Flickr]