About Us
Identity Stronghold
Identity Stronghold was founded in 2005 with two thoughts in mind: Inform consumers about RFID embedded chips, and then protect those consumers. In the process, we started the whole industry for RFID protection. Founder Walt Augustinowicz has a technology background, and when discussions started to surface about having a national ID card for all residents with an embedded RFID chip, he started to study.
RFID Chip Vulnerabilities
To Walt’s dismay, he found that the interaction with an RFID chip embedded in a card was ‘wireless,’ meaning no contact with the card was necessary to obtain its information. For an RFID chip to transmit data to a reader, close proximity is all that was needed.
Without contact or line of sight required, he then knew that anyone armed with one of those readers could mimic the transaction and take the data on the card without the card owner knowing. We have named this unlawful transaction ‘electronic pickpocketing’.
The Federal Government initiated the first widespread use of chipped cards, but even then recognizing the vulnerabilities and threat risk, the government mandated protection of ALL employee RFID cards with either protective sleeves or protective badge holders.
Early Development
Walt’s effort to protect himself led to the development of the protective Secure Sleeve®, which became Identity Stronghold’s as well as the world's first RFID blocking product. Sold to consumers and the government, the Secure Sleeve protected the US Government Employee ID Card and the US Passport Card and that is how Identity Stronghold started.
Since then, RFID chips have expanded into numerous industries:
- Credit & Debit Cards
- Passport Booklets
- Employee Identification Cards
- Student Identification Cards
- Transportation Payments
- And More
To reassure customers, a lot of false information has been promised by companies that use RFID technology. Credit card companies, wanting the speed of a wireless transaction, claimed it is so safe that a pin code is not needed. They have expanded RFID use into billions of credit cards and debit cards worldwide. Not having to input a pin code has increased transaction speed and reduced transaction time, but has left cards vulnerable to electronic pickpocketing.
RFID Security in the News
Walt has since spent countless hundreds of hours on planes and in airports for meetings with news reporters in an attempt to inform the public about electronic pickpocketing and the risk of theft from unprotected cards. (See those videos from Fox News, Anderson Cooper, NBC, CBS, ABC, Inside Edition, Discovery Channel, and hundreds of local news stations worldwide.)
Their stories have collectively garnered more than 30 million views online alone. He has presented to state and federal law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Marshals Service, Financial Surveillance Unit, and anti-fraud task forces via a mixture of private briefings and public trade shows.
He has reached out to most of the major credit card companies about protecting their cards with our sleeves, but they resist telling consumers (actually their customers) that there is a weakness with RFID cards.
Protect Your Information
In an effort to continue the protection side of the ‘inform and protect’ directive, Walt has added Secure Badgeholder® and Secure Wallet™, and continues to develop RFID protection products so that consumers can protect credit cards, passports, ID cards and more. As you search our RFID blocking products, know that Identity Stronghold started this protective industry with a simple goal to educate and protect you.
Please enjoy our videos and review our protective products. Our intent is that you become more aware of this issue, and when the time is right for you, seek the protection and safety of our products for your valuable cards.
Most links below will be to the internet archive (Wayback Machine) to preserve these reports even after news publishers archive and remove them from their sites. You may see missing images but the report as originally published should still be found.
Media Coverage & the Term “Electronic Pickpocketing”
Walt coined the term “electronic pickpocketing” for reporters to have a term to use when he appeared in television news coverage in 2009 and on as reporters examined wireless credit card and passport vulnerabilities.
KHOU – CBS Houston
November 27, 2009
Headline: “Electronic pickpocketing threatens credit cards, passports”
Archived article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20091127052009/http://www.khou.com/home/Electronic-pickpocketing-threatens-credit-cards-passports--72703677.html
During televised interviews that same year, Walt Augustinowicz used the phrase while demonstrating wireless RFID credential scanning.
IDENTITY STRONGHOLD
CHRONOLOGICAL AUTHORITY RECORD (2009–PRESENT)
2009
March 2009 — WWSB (ABC 7 Sarasota, FL)
Reporter: Josh Taylor
Headline: RFID credit card vulnerability investigation
Type: Television investigative segment
Video Archive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTzdpxrVSJs
November 27, 2009 — KHOU (CBS Houston, TX)
Headline: Electronic pickpocketing threatens credit cards, passports
Type: Television investigative report
Archived Article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20091127052009/http://www.khou.com/home/Electronic-pickpocketing-threatens-credit-cards-passports--72703677.html
November 29, 2009 — WFAA (ABC 8 Dallas, TX)
Headline: Electronic pick pocketing threatens credit cards, passports
Type: Television investigative report
Archived Article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20091129132651/http://www.wfaa.com/home/Electronic-pick-pocketing-threatens-credit-cards-passports-72070657.html
2010
August 26, 2010 — Pitchmen (National Television Appearance)
Program: Pitchmen
Type: National cable television product demonstration appearance
Video Archive:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QZ07PUJ3bc&t=919s
September 30, 2010 — eHow
Headline: Companies That Protect Against Identity Theft
Type: National digital publication
Archived Article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20101005062244/http://www.ehow.com/list_7212944_companies-protect-identity-theft.html
November 8, 2010 — NBC2 (Ft. Myers, FL)
Headline: NBC2 Investigates: High Tech Pick Pocketing
Type: Television investigative report
Archived Article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20101110070925/http://www.nbc-2.com/Global/story.asp?S=13463897
November 19, 2010 — WOIO (Cleveland, OH)
Headline: Beep… You’ve been robbed
Type: Television investigative report
Archived Article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20101123070714/http://www.woio.com/Global/story.asp?S=13535751
November 23, 2010 — KMOV (St. Louis, MO)
Headline: Crooks using high-tech methods to steal credit card information
Type: Television investigative report
Archived Article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20101126052057/http://www.kmov.com/home/High-tech-pickpocketing--110268729.html
November 24, 2010 — WTSP (CBS Tampa, FL)
Headline: Electronic pickpocketing puts your credit card at risk
Type: Television investigative report
Archived Article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20101128081451/http://www.wtsp.com/news/mostpop/story.aspx?storyid=158493&provider=top
November 29, 2010 — Fox News “Happening Now” (National)
Headline: High-Tech Credit Card Thieves
Type: National cable news broadcast
Broadcast Archive:
https://archive.org/details/FOXNEWS_20101129_160000_Happening_Now
December 3, 2010 — CBS News Tech (National)
Headline: Credit Cards At Risk From High-Tech Pickpockets
Type: National digital publication
Archived Article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20101206075154/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/12/03/tech/main7114331.shtml
December 3, 2010 — WREG (Memphis, TN)
Headline: Electronic Pickpocketing
Type: Television investigative report
Archived Article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20101206075032/http://www.wreg.com/wreg-electronic-pickpocketing-story,0,6289527.story
December 6, 2010 — WREG (Memphis, TN)
Headline: Electronic Pickpocketing Goes Viral
Type: Follow-up investigative report
Archived Article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20101208061128/http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-electronic-pickpocketing-goes-viral,0,1599870.story
December 7, 2010 — CHCH “Square Off” (Canada)
Headline: Electronic Pickpocketing
Type: Canadian television interview
Archived Page:
https://web.archive.org/web/20101210124518/http://chch.com/index.php/home/item/1480-square-off-tues-dec-7-2010
December 9, 2010 — Fox News “The FOX Report with Shepard Smith” (National)
Chyron: HIGH-TECH PICKPOCKETING PUTS CREDIT CARDS AT RISK
Correspondent: Eric Shawn
Broadcast Archive:
https://archive.org/details/FOXNEWS_20101210_000000_The_FOX_Report_With_Shepard_Smith
December 9, 2010 — KDVR (FOX 31 Denver, CO)
Headline: Electronic Pick-pocketing alarmingly easy
Archived Article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20101212062446/http://www.kdvr.com/news/kdvr-electronic-pickpocketing-alarm-120910,0,383054.story
December 13, 2010 — Forbes
Headline: This Week in Credit Card News: WikiLeaks, Cybersecurity, Prepaid Cards
Archived Article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20101216072348/http://blogs.forbes.com/moneybuilder/2010/12/13/this-week-in-credit-card-news-wikileaks-cybersecurity-prepaid-cards/
December 18, 2010 — Fox & Friends
Segment: Beware Electronic Pickpockets
Broadcast Archive:
https://archive.org/details/FOXNEWS_20101218_110000_FOX_and_Friends_Saturday
December 22, 2010 — WGN Radio (Chicago, IL)
Program: The Mike McConnell Show
Archived Page:
https://web.archive.org/web/20101224070952/http://www.wgnradio.com/shows/mikemcconnell/wgnam-mike-mcconnell-uncut-full-122210c,0,5929396.mp3file
December 27, 2010 — CNN
Headline: Pickpocketing without touching the pocket
Broadcast Archive:
https://archive.org/details/CNN_20101227_180000_CNN_Newsroom
December 29, 2010 — Black Enterprise
Headline: Electronic Pickpocketing: How Safe Is Your Identity?
Archived Article:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110102080939/http://www.blackenterprise.com/2010/12/29/electronic-pickpocketing/
2011
January 26, 2011 — Global News (Canada)
Headline: Taking Credit: Identity Theft in the Electronic Age
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110130073318/http://www.globalnews.ca/story.html?id=4163589
February 3, 2011 — WFTV (Orlando, FL)
Headline: ‘Digital Pickpockets’ Can Steal Your Card Info
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110206074211/http://www.wftv.com/news/26732541/detail.html
February 3, 2011 — WPXI (Pittsburgh, PA)
Headline: Target 11 Investigates: Pick Pocketing Gone High-Tech
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110206074409/http://www.wpxi.com/target11/26729501/detail.html
February 7, 2011 — WTTG (FOX 5 Washington, DC)
Headline: Fox 5 Investigates: Electronic Pickpocketing
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110210071641/http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/special_report/fox-5-investigates-electronic-pickpocketing-020711
February 7, 2011 — ABC7 Washington (WJLA)
Headline: On Your Side: Electronic Pickpocketing Concerns
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110210071228/http://www.tbd.com/articles/2011/02/on-your-side-electronic-pick-pocketing-concerns-50976.html
February 9, 2011 — WTHR (Indianapolis, IN)
Headline: The Risk Inside Your Credit Card
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110212070802/http://www.wthr.com/story/14001597/the-risk-inside-your-credit-card
February 10, 2011 — KSDK (St. Louis, MO)
Headline: Credit card theft without touching your wallet
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110213070233/http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/243239/3/Credit-card-theft-without-touching-your-wallet
February 17, 2011 — NBC Miami (WTVJ)
Headline: New Technology Makes It Easier to Steal Credit Card Info
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110220072115/http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/New-Technology-Making-it-Easier-to-Steal-Your-Credit-Card-Information-115557929.html
February 21, 2011 — FOX5 Las Vegas
Headline: Expert: Credit Cards Transmitting Info to Thieves
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110224073512/http://www.fox5vegas.com/news/26947272/detail.html?taf=vegas
February 21, 2011 — MyFoxPhoenix
Headline: The Modern Pickpocket
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110225072633/http://www.myfoxphoenix.com/dpp/news/only_on_fox/the-modern-pickpocket-2-21-2011
February 23, 2011 — Inside Edition
Headline: Inside Edition Investigates Electronic Pickpocketing
Broadcast Archive:
https://archive.org/details/WRC_20110223_233000_Inside_Edition
February 24–25, 2011 — NBC12 (Richmond, VA)
Headline: Electronic Pick pocketing – Protect Yourself
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110227073119/http://www.nbc12.com/Global/story.asp?S=14134627
February 28, 2011 — WREG (Memphis, TN)
Headline: Electronic Pickpocketing: Credit Card Cloned Onto Room Key
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110304051041/http://www.wreg.com/news/wreg-electronic-pickpocketed-card-cloned-story,0,4662795.story?page=2
March 1, 2011 — ABC Action News (Tampa, FL)
Headline: New technology allows credit card numbers to be stolen by just walking by
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110304073142/http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_tampa/downtown_tampa/New-technology-allows-credit-card-numbers-to-be-stolen-by-just-walking-by
March 2, 2011 — digtriad (WFMY – Greensboro, NC)
Headline: What is RFID Technology?
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110305073721/http://www.digtriad.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=163929&catid=57
March 2, 2011 — WHAS11 (Louisville, KY)
Headline: Elizabeth thieves clone credit cards in latest identity scam
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110305074208/http://www.whas11.com/news/consumer/Elizabethtown-theives-clone-credit-cards-in-latest-identity-scam-86098572.html
May 2011 — WDIV (Detroit, MI)
Reporter: Hank Winchester
Headline: Electronic pickpocketing investigation
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110520072341/http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/27929052/detail.html
June 14, 2011 — Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Headline: Englewood business prevents digital pickpockets
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110617070128/https://www.heraldtribune.com/story/news/2011/06/14/ernst-englewood-business-prevents-digital-pickpockets/29024138007/
September 9, 2011 — WTHR (Indianapolis, IN)
Reporter: Bob Segall
Headline: The Risk Inside Your Credit Card
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20110912070241/http://www.wthr.com/story/15437941/the-risk-inside-your-credit-card
2012
May 2012 — Anderson
Program: Anderson
Broadcast Archive:
https://archive.org/details/WABC_20120518_190000_Anderson
May 17, 2012 — Univision “Despierta América”
Broadcast Archive:
https://archive.org/details/KDTV_20120517_140000_Despierta_America
November 28, 2012 — WNBC (New York)
Reporter: Lynda Baquero
Chyron: CREDIT CARD WARNING
Broadcast Archive:
https://archive.org/details/WNBC_20121129_040000_NBC_4_New_York
2013
April 24, 2013 — NBC Los Angeles
Reporter: Ana Garcia
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20130427073202/https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/android-iphone-ipad-apps-credit-card-scam/2060251/
November 18, 2013 — FOX40 Sacramento
December 4, 2013 — UPI
Headline: Electronic pickpocketing risk from radio-frequency gadgets
https://www.upi.com/Defense-News/2013/12/04/Electronic-pickpocketing-risk-from-radio-frequency-gadgets/21041386193014/
2014
May 7, 2014 — Inside Edition
Headline: Phantom Key Card Investigation
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20140510073218/http://www.insideedition.com/investigative/7987-phantom-key-card-investigation
May 16, 2014 — Business Observer
Headline: Secured Success
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20140523103746/http://www.businessobserverfl.com/section/detail/secured-success/
July 10, 2014 — CampusIDNews
Headline: Campus ID cards cloned on national TV
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20140713074205/https://www.campusidnews.com/campus-id-cards-cloned-on-national-tv/
2016
May 26, 2016 — Crime Watch Daily
Headline: Tech expert demonstrates ease of RFID car hacking
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160601073652/https://truecrimenews.com/2016/05/26/tech-expert-demonstrates-ease-of-r-f-i-d-car-hacking/
2017
January 10, 2017 — US Patent and Trademark Office
Headline: A Stronghold of Ingenuity
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20170111031155/https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/newsletter/inventors-eye/stronghold-ingenuity
July 4, 2017 — NPR
Headline: There Are Plenty Of RFID-Blocking Products, But Do You Need Them?
Archived:
https://web.archive.org/web/20170705073624/https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2017/07/04/535518514/there-are-plenty-of-rfid-blocking-products-but-do-you-need-them