www.cryptalloy.net
CRYPTALLOY®
Laboratory proven material
Why are manufacturers still using inferior RFID blocking materials?
Often manufacturers pretend that their RFID blocking material used blocks all common
frequencies at a high attenuation level. They even have a certificate on demand to
substantiate their assertions/claims.
A few manufacturers, using inferior RFID blocking material, honestly inform their customers
on their websites (small prints) that their products protect only most of the frequencies; but
often they don't know which ones and so their customers either.
Why these manufacturers make such assertions?
1. Some manufacturer think they are not only experts in their fields (craftmanship) but
also experts in RFID shielding attenuation. But they are definitely wrong.
2. They often rely on their own tests and test procedures with weak, low performing
RFID readers, for example smartphone apps. These tests aren't reliable and valid nor
objective from a scientific point of view.
3. They often rely on laboratory tests of institutes whose procedures are neither
objective, public nor transparent. These tests don't meet scientific standards.
Copyright CRYPTALLOY EPIGUARD RFID SHIELDING 2015
www.cryptalloy.net / [email protected]
4. They pretend that they didn't find a way to handle the RFID blocking material from
CRYPTALLOY in a proper manner (lack of production experience and know how).
Instead they are using metal coated fabrics although knowing that fabrics don't block
sufficiently. In doing so they lose sight of the safety requirements of their consumers
who rely themselves on the pledges of the manufacturers.
5. Some manufacturers prefer inferior RFID blocking material because of the eventually
lower price per square meter compared to the price/sqm for CRYPTALLOY. For
lower production costs they implicitly accept a loss of consumer's safety (and a loss
of their reputation, too).
6. They are apparently not aware that they risk a damage of their image and a loss of
the reputation of their brand and company.
Non-specific or even misleading arguments
Often manufacturers pretend that their RFID blocking material used in their products is
blocking effectively, with misleading or general arguments.
As wary travellers and shoppers, i.e. consumers should examine those arguments and call
them into doubts. They have to watch out for traps!
1. Protects your cards and passports from data theft via radio transmission.
Questions:
What kind of cards and passports are protected?
Which material has been used, from which manufacturer?
2. Protects most of the cards from electronic pickpocketing (RFID skimming).
Questions:
Which cards are protected?
Are for example cards which operate at 125 KHz also blocked (access control cards,
car and bike sharing cards, tickets)?
Copyright CRYPTALLOY EPIGUARD RFID SHIELDING 2015
www.cryptalloy.net / [email protected]
3. Protects RFID transponders with frequency of 13.56 MHz, only.
Questions:
Do you as a consumer know at which frequency your card and passport operate?
Are your own cards protected?
What happens with the cards that operate at a different frequency range (kHz, GHz
for example)?
4. Protects 99% from data theft via radio transmission
Questions:
Are there any attestations and/or certificates from the manufacturer confirming
shielding attenuation at a scientific level?
What kind of (laboratory) equipment has been used for the tests?
Is the charged institute a known company?
Do the tests meet scientific standards (experimental conditions and replicable
results)?
Note:
The quality of the screen attenuation for RFID/NFC radio transmission against
contactless readout of data via radio transmission is ordinary measured in dB
(dezibel). For the frequency 13.56 MHz the institute for high frequency, microwave
and radar engineering at the university of the German armed forces at Munich
(Germany) has measured a screen attenuation value of 92dB. A potentially rest signal
isn't measurable. A radio contact can't be established at all.
Not only does CRYPTALLOY shield radio transmission at a maximum level, it also
disturbs temporarily the electronic components of the RFID transponder. But how?
Attenuation and shielding are achieved on the one hand by a reflection of the
electromagnetic fields through a combination of a high permeable metal alloy and
aluminum, on the other hand, the resonant circuits of the RFID chip are prevented
from oscillating through another component (addition to the alloy) when surface
contact or even just an approach takes place.
5. Blocks RFID/NFC radio transmission signals
Questions:
Which signals and which frequencies are blocked?
Which shielding screen attenuation level has been achieved?
Which cards and passports are protected?
Copyright CRYPTALLOY EPIGUARD RFID SHIELDING 2015
www.cryptalloy.net / [email protected]
Note:
Often weak RFID readers with low performance are used for testing (or for
demonstration at fairs).
6. We as a manufacturer have a certificate or a testing seal
Questions:
What those certificates or testing seals mean?
Is the certificate recognized in the industry?
TÜV certificate:
The RFID blocking material CRYPTALLOY has a TÜV seal (certificate 51211A;
number related to the manufacturer KRYPTRONIC TECHNOLOGIES) because
consumers know and rely on the TÜV seals.
For materials tested, the TÜV Germany only confirms to manufacturers of RFID
blocking materials that those materials have a certain shielding attenuation level. But
the TÜV doesn't confirm security against RFID attacks by RFID readers and
professional RFID equipment. So a TÜV certificate doesn't mean automatically that
RFID chips of cards and passports are secure by those materials used for RFID
blocking.
Nonetheless CRYPTALLOY has passed the TÜV tests.
Furthermore the CRYPTALLOY RFID blocking material is regularly tested for a
maximum of screen attenuation in its own laboratory of the manufacturer
KRYPTRONIC TECHNOLOGIES, Germany.
The RFID blocking characteristics of CRYPTALLOY material has also been confirmed
by the FEDERAL OFFICE OF COMMUNICATION (OFCOM, Switzerland) in its
measurement report for FEDERAL OFFICE OF POLICE (FEDPOL, Switzerland).
7. The present RFID protection of the material is sufficient
Questions:
What does sufficient mean?
How is this defined?
Are alle cards and passports at all frequencies protected at a maximum level?
Note:
Play it safe with products with integrated RFID blocking film from CRYPTALLOY. This
holds true for all types of RFID/NFC cards and passports and for all types of
frequencies, without any restrictions, demonstrable and provable.
Copyright CRYPTALLOY EPIGUARD RFID SHIELDING 2015
www.cryptalloy.net / [email protected]
Please contact for further questions:
Contact person sales partner worldwide of the
manufacturer KRYPTRONIC TECHNOLOGIES
CRYPTALLOY EPIGUARD RFID SHIELDING
Patrick Hanke
Greyerzstrasse 25
3013 Bern
Switzerland
Copyright CRYPTALLOY EPIGUARD RFID SHIELDING 2015
www.cryptalloy.net / [email protected]
Phone:
Mobile:
+41 (0)31 331 60 05
+41 (0)76 344 18 31
Mail:
Web:
[email protected]
http://www.cryptalloy.net