Do Credit Card Sleeves Protect From Hackers?

Credit Card Sleeves Protect From Hackers? Some people swear by them and others think they're a complete waste of money. And what about security companies who claim to have the most effective sleeve on the market? We took a look at what actually works and what doesn't.

Credit card sleeves are seen by some as a complete waste of time, but if you're concerned about your information being stolen from RFID scanners then they definitely serve a purpose. The most important thing to consider is that there's no such thing as 100% protection. In fact, not even the best credit card sleeve on the market will give you 100% security. If someone wants to gain access to your PIN or any data through your cards, there's probably going to be little you can do to stop them. That said, credit card sleeves work by creating a shield around whatever is inside so all they need is one attempt with the right and their job is done -

In order to properly weigh all of this information — and give you our best recommendations— we went ahead and did some research. We reviewed each manufacturer's claims, spent hours reading reviews, and tested samples.

Read more below.

The answer to this question is both yes and no. The security breach that happened in November of 2014 to Target shoppers was very alarming, involving up to 100 million customers (http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2014/01/target-nearly-doubles-estimate-of-customers-affected-by-data-breach). In the course of a few weeks, hackers had breached the firewalls and had access to everything from credit card numbers, home addresses, phone numbers, and even email addresses. It almost seems impossible that such a large corporation would have been unable to detect or stop such an attack from happening, but here we are a year later still trying to figure out how it all occurred.

And while there has been a lot of blame going around for this tragic security flaw, one thing people seem not to be talking about is whether or not those credit card sleeves you purchase at any general store are actually helping to protect your information. As it turns out, they aren't. And in fact, they could even be putting you more at risk by making the hacker's job much easier!

The sleeves protect against everyday items that can ruin a credit card's magnetic strip, such as keys and coins but don't have any special features to guard against skimming devices. A skimming device is used to read data from the card without ever physically touching it. This can be done with any phone including iOS and Android with special software (https://vpntesting.com/best-vpn/android). This allows the hacker to then create a duplicate card that will allow them into your bank account.  If you use one of these credit card sleeves, all they would need to do is swipe your sleeve in order for them to get all of the necessary information off of your card.

So while the sleeves are helpful in protecting your credit cards from everyday wear and tear, it's probably best to ditch them when you're at the store.

And who knows?

Maybe then Target will finally figure out how to catch hackers before they cause widespread panic across the country again next year.