What are Shielded Badge Holders & Why Do I Need One?

To "shield" something means to protect it. You can imagine employee ID cards needing protection from adverse weather, heavy wear and tear, or excess heat and humidity. Most normal badge holders will help with those conditions. So, what might you need to shield your employee ID cards from that requires a special badge holder?

What is a shielded badge holder?

A shielded badge holder is an ID card holder with a thin layer of metal inside. They come in a variety of materials and can be flexible or rigid, but they have one main purpose:

• To shield smart cards from being read

Cards you might want to shield include:

• Contactless credit cards
• Debit cards
• RFID technology cards such as:
• MiFARE
• iClass
• PIV
• CAC
• TWIC
• FRAC

Who needs a shielded badge holder?

The short answer is anyone who doesn't want nefarious individuals to use skimmers or illegal card readers to get the information contained on your smart card. If you're worried about identity theft or have sensitive corporate or governmental information on an employee ID card, read on.

The most obvious use is for governmental agencies who need to protect important data like security clearances. You don't want an illegal skimmer to access that information to create counterfeit access cards or use the information to hack their way into data systems, buildings, and more. For example, the US Department of Defense and states use shielded badge holders for their active-duty military personnel, reserves, and even civilian employees or contractors.

Large corporations may have proprietary information and assets controlled by security clearance levels. Your employeeID cards might have a photo ID and employee name on the front. But the smart chip often contains sensitive information you wouldn't want to fall into the hands of corporate raiders.

In addition, more people today are worried about identity theft thanks to skimmers reading the information on the chips in their debit or credit cards. While a lot of companies restrict information that a reader has access to, people are still getting their identities stolen daily.

How does it work?

That thin strip of metal in a shielded badge holder blocks a card reader from reading the information contained on the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chip in your card. Without a shielded badge holder, a scanning antenna on the card reader picks up the data on your RFID chip. It uses that information to perform payments, grant access to facilities, and much more.

Companies and governmental entities that don't want just anyone to "read" their smart cards need a shielded badge holder to interrupt that process. But, consider when an employee or cardholder needs access to a restricted area, wants to make payment with their smart card, or another use for the sensitive data on their cards. They must remove the smart card from the shielded badge holder for it to work.

Use a shielded badge holder to protect against skimming

You've most likely read about the prevalence of skimming. While companies, governmental entities, and more are taking steps to reduce or eliminate the possibility of skimming, there is a simple and affordable fix.

For all cards using RFID technology, a shielded badge holder is a cost-effective, easy way to protect cardholders' vulnerability to unauthorized data access by anyone with a skimmer. The thin layer of metal prevents any skimmer or reader from activating the antenna in a smart card. Even if a data thief held the reader right up to your card, the badge would protect it.

Shielded badge holders come in three different materials:

• Plastic. If you need not remove your card and use it often, this is the best badge holder option. It protects your card from bending or getting damaged.
• Vinyl. Vinyl protects your card from dirt and debris that might damage it. It's also much more useful for those who need to remove their cards from the badge often.
• Paper. Paper is great for promotional uses and is usually water and tear resistant. It still contains the metal shield to protect smart cards.

Final thoughts

Before deciding if you need shielded badge holders, ask yourself these questions:

• Is there sensitive or proprietary information on your cards you don't want to fall into unauthorized hands?
• Do cardholders need to easily and frequently remove their cards from the holders?
• How will cardholders wear or carry their shielded badge holders?

Then talk to an ID Expert at Idesco to go over your needs. We'll make sure you get the right badge holder in the right material for the right price. Call us today at 212-889-2530 for the guaranteed lowest price—anywhere.