Faraday bags shield devices from outside signals to prevent data from being altered, deleted, or added to a device. This security is more crucial than ever given today’s cyber dangers. In addition to obvious cyber protection, Faraday bags can be used to block radiation, remain off the grid, or protect against car theft. While reasons to use a Faraday bag may vary, their benefits do not. Here is why you need a Faraday bag today.
1 | The danger of data theft is more real than you may think
When people think of hackers, they often imagine a hooded, faceless figure hunched over their laptop in a closet full of computers. This is not what data theft looks like. Who perpetrates cybersecurity attacks and how they are carried out has changed. Hackers today can be the stranger in a coffee shop on the same Wifi network as you, or the fellow subway passenger you sat by when your Bluetooth was unknowingly left on. Anyone you share the public space with can be a potential threat—the most mundane situations can lead to the most damaging data violations. Just as who breaches digital security may be unexpected, so too are how the attacks are conducted.
Unfortunately, breaches of cybersecurity run rampant. People go “phishing” with fake emails to deceive recipients into divulging personal details or install malware. Wireless signals can now be used from a remote location to completely wipe out the data on devices. The tiniest transmitters, down to keyless car remotes, can now be hacked. The caption to your social media post about your dog can be used to crack passcodes.
All of this is not to say that we should all retreat to a screenless existence and live inside of cardboard boxes in the countryside. (Although you do you). Rather, we need to be even more mindful and wary of our use of technology. We must be cognizant of the dangers of a data breach and what we can do to prevent them. That’s why a Faraday bag is a necessity in today’s day and age. Faraday bags block out outside signal from enclosed devices so that you may operate off the grid, and free from the threat of attack, whenever you wish. This assurance grants you peace of mind to act with confidence in your complete cyber safety at all times.
2 | Better safe than sorry
Faraday bags have been used predominantly for evidence preservation by the military and law enforcement in the past. However, everyone can benefit from heightened cybersecurity. Even if you think that you’ve got nothing to hide, there’s still plenty to protect. Think of the physical copies of the information stored on your phone. Would you want printed copies of your photos, notes, text messages, and emails just flapping in the breeze? Keeping your devices in a Faraday bag is a simple way to preserve your basic right to privacy.
Purchasing a Faraday bag is an affordable, one-time investment for the protection of your data in the past, present, and future. Leaving your devices unguarded is leaving yourself open to the risk of privacy violations. Beyond the unquantifiable value of your personal information is the monetary value of some of the products a Faraday bag can protect. Faraday bags are often used to protect keyless car fobs from outsider hackers who aim to tap into the transmitter signal to steal cars. It’s better to pay $20 for a key fob faraday bag than to buy a new car.
Once you’ve been hacked there’s no going back! There’s no point in sending out the defensive line if the other team has already entered the end zone. Taking precautionary measures with a Faraday bag in the present is the only way to totally ensure your security in the future. It’s just not worth the risk, both monetarily and emotionally, to remain unprotected.
3 | Protect the data of others
Guarding against a possible security breach protects more than just yourself; it protects everyone you may have exchanged personal information with on your device. Let’s say your sister texted you her garage code last week so you could feed her dog. Perhaps your mom sent you her email password when she mistook your text conversation for a Gmail support page the other day. All of these sensitive data can be kept safe with a Faraday bag.
It’s unrealistic to expect your communication with the people in your life to remain strictly about the weather or other publicly known information. You don’t have control over what everyone sends you. It’s entirely possible that someone may send you a message with personal details they don’t want available to strangers. You wouldn’t post every single photo you’ve sent your best friend on Instagram and you wouldn’t share every text between you two as a tweet. You can think of using a Faraday bag to protect shared information as a courtesy that you would hope to be paid to yourself.
You’re basically a superhero, protecting the cyber data of all.
4 | You don’t have to compromise the use of your devices altogether
Phone passcodes and laptop passwords lull us into a false sense of security with the facade of protection from intrusion into your computer, but these measures do nothing to defend against intruders who can wreak havoc remotely. It can be maddeningly difficult to cover your tracks to stay off the grid—the tiniest misstep can leave you open for a cyber attack. You can do a thousand little things right to protect your cybersecurity but all it takes is one tiny slip up to leave you vulnerable. Perhaps you forgot to turn your Bluetooth off the last time you Airdropped photos to your friend, or maybe you ignored that latest software update when that pesky popped up.
The only other way to completely guarantee nobody taps into your signal is by not having a signal at all. Forfeiting the privilege of using technology would be an unnecessarily extreme solution. Not owning any devices is impractical for yourself and everyone trying to get a hold of you. You don’t need to sacrifice the privilege of using technology when there’s a feasible, affordable solution to maintain privacy.
With a Faraday bag, you can choose when your devices are detectable. Faraday bags offer you a way to stay engaged with a peace of mind that you can remain undetected. Save yourself the headache of constantly avoiding unprotected Wifi networks, Bluetooth pitfalls, and email scams by effectively disabling your devices whenever you want.
5 | The best offense is a good defense
You probably don’t use your phone to store highly classified government secrets. But you probably do use it to access your online bank account or save photos of your loved ones. Measures of data security often seem as though they should be reserved for guarding against grand theft. However, a Faraday bag does not need to be used solely for the protection of criminal evidence or trade secrets. Getting a Faraday bag is an easy way to protect your passwords and the 200 photos of your dog you’ve got on your camera roll.
You won’t know that you’ve been a victim of a cyber attack until it’s too late. Keeping your devices in a Faraday bag is about more than just protecting your bank account. Every bag defends against a whole litany of possible privacy violations. It grants peace of mind to those concerned with the hazards of cell phone radiation, location tracking, or data tampering. Being proactively defensive against hackers, rather than a passive potential target, greatly reduces your chances of being a victim of a security breach. A Faraday bag is an easily accessible defensive measure that allows you to communicate and collaborate freely in cyberspace.