Our Origin Story

OffGrid started in 2009 as a digital forensics company, responding to a challenge faced by its parent company EC Ryan International. The parent firm was selling Western digital forensic technologies into Asian markets, where there was a disconnect between the tools (built for Western devices) and the unique local cell phone models emerging from Asia’s deep manufacturing capabilities. To address this, OffGrid began designing custom mobile forensic tools, centered around flasher box technology.

OffGrid’s first major product was the Tarantula, launched in 2010 to support extraction and analysis from devices unique to the Asian market. These affordable devices spread to emerging markets, and eventually caught the attention of the U.S. government, especially in military operations (e.g., Afghanistan), where adversaries were using low-cost, non-Western mobile devices strapped to IEDs. This led to U.S. government interest in OffGrid’s tools for intelligence collection during missions.

While conducting training sessions, customers began bringing in devices wrapped in foil or stored in cookie tins, a DIY approach to shielding. This inspired OffGrid to develop its own Faraday bag line to properly protect the integrity of digital evidence for the US Government. Initially, these Faraday bags were sold as add-ons to forensic kits, but the use case quickly grew beyond that.

With the rise of smartphones and the increasing complexity of digital devices, OffGrid pivoted to focus on shielding. The company launched a comprehensive line of portable shielding solutions made from their proprietary Faraday fabric. They operated under the name EDEC Digital Forensics developing and designing the original Utility Faraday Bag which has now become industry standard for device protection. 

By 2015–2016, it became clear that shielding wasn't just a digital forensics issue. Their products were being used for: Military & intelligence operations, Signal concealment, Business traveler privacy, Consumer-grade privacy protection. To reflect this broader mission, the company rebranded from EDEC Digital Forensics to OffGrid in 2020. From then on, the company focused on creating high-quality, consumer-friendly shielding products that still retained their performance pedigree for law enforcement and military use.