There’s a lot of stories in the media at the moment in light of revelations that certain government agencies can hack into your smartphone.

Whether it’s for spying on you for audio bits, capturing visual bits by turning your camera on without you ever knowing or just tracking your where abouts, it seems Smartphone hacking is hitting the mainstream.

Criminals have been looking for ways to exploit smartphones since they were invented way back when Steve Jobs released the first generation iPhone® on June 29^th 2007.

Fast forward almost ten years and how our lives have changed because of that “light bulb” moment from Apple. Every year at the hackers convention Def Con held in Las Vegas these hackers  are show casing how easy these technologies we use daily are open and vulnerable to hacking.

Find out how Armourcell™ can protect your Android phone

The interesting thing is that most people who have ever used “Find My” feature for a lost phone, laptop etc is tapping into a form of surveillance. Whether it’s a partner tracking a spouse’s movements or downloading malicious code hidden in an app your kids just to downloaded to somebody walking past you in the street injecting malicious code via the backdoor through the NFC (Near Field Communication) or tap and go / bump feature located on most smartphones these days.

The fact is with so much information on our smartphones its just way to tempting to not be exploited by criminals and let’s just say certain “agencies”.

As smartphone owners, we need to start stepping up security measures and that starts with simple things like two-stage pin security code, knowing what you’re downloading is from a reliable source, checking permissions of the apps your downloading etc.

The harder thing to monitor is walk-by NFC injections, this is when somebody injects a malicious code into your phone via the NFC feature that tells your phone to do something (like next time your in a wifi zone, your phone is fooled to back up, then boots up a browser in the background to a malicious web address that copies all your files to the server) Scary stuff and everything & I mean everything is worth money on the dark web or deep web.

At Armourcard™ we knew this vulnerability was coming and that’s why we developed our latest product called Armourcell™ which utilises our patented micro jamming technology found in our original Armourcard product and applies it to your Android smartphone.

Armourcell™ effectively shuts the NFC backdoor into your phone and also stops your phone acting as a sniffer via the NFC feature for credit card data out in the open.

 

To find out more about Armourcell™ for Android phones here 

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Protect yourself from identity theft

What are the best ways to prevent identity theft?

Here are 10 top tips to help protect yourself from identity theft

At ARMOURCARD we are often asked what can I do to minimise the risk of my personal data being compromised.

So we have compiled a list of the 10 top ways to protect yourself. (for the detailed list go here)

1. Shred it – like you mean too
   

2. Stash it – keep your receipts when out then shred it when home

3. Lock it up – mailboxes, filing cabinets, phones

4. Financial diligence – check your statements and all correspondence

5. Protect it – ePickpocketing

6. Check-ups – keep up to date credit checks

7. Red Flags – look out for any unusual activity

8. Freeze it – install a freeze on your credit

9. Opt-out – of pre-approved credit offers

10. Password Savvy – use different passwords

It’s often easy to forget just how easy your identity can be stolen especially in the technical age in-which we are living. By taking several steps and making them routine you will help greatly reduce your chances of having your identity stolen.

To find more about what each one of the 10 Tips means and how you can implement it go here

Our CEO Tyler Harris has been featured in the national newspaper The Australian both in print and online on the 1st Aug 2017 in an Article called

Armourcard ads to the Arsenal

Mr Harris talked about the next battleground for identity theft and data stolen is on your smartphone and how criminals are exploiting the back door into your phone to get your data.

Harris went on to say

As Australians rely on smartphones to go about their personal and professional transactions, data stored on those devices is the new gold.

and continued

What many people don’t realise is that mobile phones can be penetrated through the NFC technology which is constantly on and emitting a signal. All it takes is for malicious code to be injected through the NFC feature on a smartphone and a hacker pushing out malicious RFID signal to a phone by the RFID chip, to get hold of passwords, photographs, and other personal information.

 

 

Tyler introduced Armourcell, our latest product to protect your android smartphone from this type of attack

 

With Armourcell, we are providing smartphone users peace of mind and protecting their data from being compromised,

Mr Harris said.

To read the full article please go to The Australian

 

Find out more about how Armourcell can protect your phone

 

Australian Financial Review reports on identity theft in the digital age

Tyler Harris the CEO of Armourcard was interviewed for comments by Duncan Hughes the highly respected journalist from the Australian Financial Review on Identity theft and whats coming our way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You may also like to read about how over 400 mil is wirelessly skimmed from Australians by electronic pickpockets

Find out how you can protect your smartphone with Armourcell

 

RFID Protective cards – understand the difference before you buy.

Over the past few months it has come to our attention that consumers are judging the effectiveness of the RFID protective cards they are purchasing against retail point of sale terminals.

Based on this method of testing these RFID Protective cards give the appearance of being very effective at blocking a transaction being processed and have received a number of very positive reviews.

The truth is that if you place two PayPass cards together and present them to a retail (tap & go) terminal the transaction will NOT go through. This is so the consumer can make the decision of which card they wish to present to the terminal. Don’t be fooled though, any standard reader (like the one in the image to the right) that can be purchased online will not give you this option and will take the information off the first card that responds to its requests. These readers have anti-collision software so it does not matter how many cards are being interrogated it will always get at least one.

The criminals who perpetrate this electronic pickpocket crime would rarely use a retail style (tap & go) terminal to skim, they are more likely to use a standard off the shelf reader and ‘amp up’ the antenna and signal strength.

The way in which some of these cards are marketed and the terms that they use to boost the hype imply that the cards are loaded with top secret and patented technology some even drop names such as “NASA”  to increase their worth.

The truth is actually quite different. Often a standard programable RFID card worth about $0.75 is programmed with essentially garbage in an attempt to confuse the terminal which is trying to interrogate it. This has been shown to be inconsistent in its protective ability and thus cannot reliably support the claims that are being made.

As there is no regulatory body governing the standards of products in this field, it has been left open for anybody to jump on board and try to make a quick dollar. The few companies that have invested significantly in research and development to effectively protect the consumer have been left trying to defend and differentiate their products from those who have clearly blurred the lines and cannot support or prove the claims that are being made. The sooner this industry can be regulated the better.

Where does this leave you? the best advice is to research the product you are considering purchasing.

If it claims to Jam does it have FCC approval?

If it claims to have patented technology is there a reference to a patent? (don’t be fooled by a ™ next to a word, that does not constitute a patent but merely a logo or term being trademarked)

If it claims to be active does it have a battery?

As a consumer you must do your research and due diligence until there is a regulatory body who can help govern the claims being made. Protecting your identity from theft is a serious business and you should only look for companies and products who are serious about protecting your data & not who just want to jump on the band wagon for a quick dollar.

The decision is ultimately yours as to how much worth protecting your personal data is to you.

Beware, Be Aware and Stay Vigilant.

Armourcard has a stand at CES 2016 (Consumer Electronic Show) in Las Vegas January 6th – 9th

We are very excited to be present with a stand at CES 2016 this coming January.  You will be able to come say hello to the inventors and founders plus see the Armourcard product for US launch.

You will also be privy to a new Armourcard product for the protection of NFC enabled smartphones & tablets to be released soon.

Our stand will located in the Personal & Cyber Security marketplace so if you are lucky enough to be going come by and see us.

Booth number: 21931
Venue: LVCC South 1
Marketplace: Personal & Cyber Security

For media opportunities please contact Tyler Harris [email protected]

To arrange times to discuss US sales opportunities please contact Tyler [email protected]

We look forward to seeing you in Vegas.

#ces2016

Armourcard review by APC magazine

APC or Australian Personal Computing has featured Armourcard in a recent article on travel goods and travel essentials.

Lindsay Handmer one of the journalists at APC reviewed Armourcard and tested and gave a very good review of 4 stars.

(in-fact no product got a higher score from all the products reviewed.)

Next time you travel the article that reviews Armourcard as an essential travel good to take with you, especially with ePassports, tap & go credit / debit cards and many hotel keys able to be skimmed.

Don’t travel without one, the Armourcard reviews say.

To read the full review Read APC article

SKY NEWS Money interviews Tyler Harris

On Friday 21st August 2015, one of Armourcard’s Directors Tyler Harris was asked to be a guest speaker on SKY NEWS MONEY the Money Exchange show with Andrew Barnett.

The interview titled:

Electronic Pick Pocketing. What is it and how to avoid it?

In the interview Tyler was asked by Andrew from the Money Exchange one of SKY NEWS money segments  some key questions surrounding the topic ranging from:

What is electronic pick pocketing and how prevalent is it? 

right through to…

So when they scan my details what do they get and how can they use it?

In the live on-air filming of SKY NEWS Money Exchange Show with Andrew Barnett, Harris went on to say:

Its not just about credit cards and fiscal loss off a card, the bigger picture is profiling you for identity theft.

He also went on to say:

Identity theft is a growing global concern

And as more of this type of technology comes into our lives we must start to protect ourselves from exploitation of the very same technology found in these tap & go credits and ePassports.

Watch the SKY NEWS Money Exchange segment above, the interview starts at 2:47 in the video.

Short video demonstration of Armourcards jamming technology in action.

Not all protective devices are equal, in-fact passive devices like RFID blocking wallets & RFID shielding credit card sleeves have a varying degree of effectiveness and often can still be penetrated if a criminal boosts the power on an RFID reader (purchased for less $100) and pumps up the antenna strength. (easy to do just search on the internet for free instructions)

We tackled the skimming issue differently, Armourcard is the 1st product to offer active protection, what that means is Armourcard will instantly power up when someone tries to skim your credit cards or ePassports and it will emit a jamming signal that electronically jams the frequency these credit cards & passport communicate over (13.56MHz). It does not matter if a criminal boosts the power of a reader or amps up the antenna strength as it can not penetrate the jamming of this frequency?(13.56MHz) that Armourcard puts out.

So if you’re wanting superior protection from wireless skimming then Armourcard is for you. Watch how easy it is to protect your credit cards in this video demonstration.

 

BUY Armourcard NOW!

 

 

Channel Nine’s A Current Affair show ran a story on Tap & Go Fraud

A big thank you to Tracy Grimshaw & Trevor Long for featuring on ACA Armourcard and a running a great story raising awareness of the vulnerabilities surrounding the technology that most of us already have in our wallets and purses.

Trevor Long went on to show how easy it was with freely available software on an NFC enabled smartphone to actually skim credit card details of a card.
As Ben mentioned in the report, the criminals use better equipment than a smartphone and will be able to skim you from a greater distance just like brushing past you in the street or on public transport
or in your local shopping mall.

Your personal data can be skimmed and sent instantly across the other side of the world to clone onto a mag-stripe card.

Trevor also mentioned that this technology becoming more accepted into our lives could open the floodgates to profiling your data for more identity theft-related crimes.

Tyler Harris, Armourcard CEO was featured showing how an Australian invention is helping prevent this wireless skimming crime by our product Armourcard.

Armourcard is the only product in the world to actively jam the frequency (or communication link) between your credit cards and the criminals with readers trying to wirelessly skim your data.