Did you know that more than 10 million people in the United States alone will experience some form of identity theft each year? In addition, many of those people won't even realize that they are victims until several years down the road.

In fact, an estimated 18% of identity theft victims will take four years or longer to realize that a crime has been committed against them all the while the perpetrator is using their name, address, and other private information at their discretion. This highlights the dramatic need for a secure shredder. There are many ways in which a secure shredder can deter, if not prevent completely, crimes of identity theft. If you have never considered having one installed on your computer or a physical secure shredder next to your computer, here are some great benefits of using one.

Files Completely Erased

The first benefit of owning a physical or virtual secure shredder is that the files you work with are completely erased. When files are sent to the Recycle or Trash Bin they don't always get erased completely. However, a shredder where virtual files and important documents are sent will be virtually shredded before they are sent to the trash bin. In other words, documents with your personal full name, social security number or other personal identifier, bank account number, telephone phone, will not be at risk if using a specialized shredder that acts just as a regular paper destroyer does at your computer's side.

Theft Deterrent

A second reason why you may want to consider using a file shredder on your computer is that there are no virtual file trails left for identity thieves to pick up on. In other words, thieves will have a difficult time trying to find any evidence of important information if they are able to hack into your computer system; therefore, a secure shredder acts as a deterrent to thieves and others who are intentionally trying to do harm.

Should You Use One?

As the evidence has been pointed out above, all individuals can benefit from the use of digital secure shredder software on your computer system. However, did you know that the largest identity theft crime was committed just in the year 2009 in the United States where millions of individuals' debit and credit card numbers along with other private information were stolen from major retailers? This essentially means that a secure shredder will not only benefit individual consumers, but that retailers and organizations should also be using them in order to deter thieves and completely erase files!

All in all, a shredder that makes sure that the security of your files and information is not compromised is what everyone needs in this world where virtual crimes have been steadily increasing. Through the use of a secure shredder your personal information, including your bank account numbers, is kept safe and clear from hackers and identity thieves!