What is a high security paper shredder and what qualifies as one? A lot of people sell “high security paper shredders,” but are they legitimate? Here are a few things to keep your eyes open for when shopping around.

You may have heard them referred to as government shredders, confidential and top-secret shredders. You may have even heard the terms DOD or NSA shredder as well. These are all terms used to describe a high security shredder.

High security paper shredders fall under two categories. These are level 5 and level 6 shredders. The higher the security level, the smaller the cut. Level 5 used to be the highest level available, but a few years ago (not soon after September 11), the level 6 shredder was introduced.

Here are the specifications for both level 5 and level 6.

Security Level 5
This security level was designed and approved by the U.S. DoD and Canadian RCMP for the shredding of top secret documents.

• STANDARD MEASUREMENT Approximately 1/32″ x 3/8-1/2″ Cross Cut
• METRIC (0.78mm x 11mm Cross Cut)

Security Level 6
This is currently the highest level of shredding security offered. It is backed by the NSA for top secret shredding. This is used for the most sensitive documents.

• STANDARD MEASUREMENT Approximately 1/32″ x 5/32″ Cross Cut or 1/26″ x 1/5″ Cross Cut
• METRIC (1mm x 4-5mm)

High security paper shredders aren’t for everyone. Most businesses will find more than enough security with a security level 3 or 4 shredder. The higher the security level, the tinier the cut. The tinier the cut, the fewer the number of sheets that can be shredded at once.

There is a list available of NSA/CSS approved shredder that you can find here. You can find our entire selection of high security paper shredders here.

Related posts:

1. Paper Shredder Security Levels Explained
2. Which Paper Shredder Security Level Is Best?
3. Top 10 Best High Security Paper Shredders
4. Destroyit 4005 SMC High Security Paper Shredder Review
5. Intimus 0077SL High Security Level 6 Paper Shredder Review

Tags: Government Paper Shredders, High Security Paper Shredders

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 4th, 2010 at 11:32 am and is filed under Paper Shredders, Tips & Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.