Belt and Braces: Introducing Faraday Sleeves and Bags from SLNT

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Purism

Beautiful, Secure, Privacy-Respecting Laptops, Tablets, PCs, and Phones

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We believe in a layered, defense-in-depth approach to security, and that is why we are excited to announce our partnership with SLNT to offer premium Faraday sleeves and bags compatible with our product line. Each of these products is designed to block electromagnetic radiation, so that you can be absolutely sure that once you put a device inside, it can no longer transmit or receive any wireless signals.

These products add an extra layer of privacy and security on top of all of the privacy and security features built into our Librem laptops and phones. By putting your device inside a Faraday sleeve, you can increase your security by blocking attempts from attackers to exploit any vulnerabilities over wireless channels. You can also increase your privacy by blocking any attackers who have already broken into your devices from transmitting data out over wireless channels.

Security and Privacy, In Your Hands

We approach security a bit differently from other vendors. Our goal is to build the most secure, yet convenient systems possible, designed so that the customer, not us, holds the keys and is in control of their security. Meanwhile, other vendors build solutions where you delegate control over to them in exchange for security. This means you become dependent upon the vendor, and locked into their ecosystem for your present and future security.

This balance between security and customer control means we often reject mainstream “best practices” and in many cases have had to develop our own unique solutions. Some examples include our hardware kill switches, PureBoot tamper-evident boot firmware, and anti-interdiction services. Our default OS, PureOS is 100% free software so you can audit it, and for customers who want even tighter security at the expense of some convenience, we also offer QubesOS as an alternative high-security OS we pre-install and support. You can also check out my recommendations for the most secure Librem 14 configuration.

Premium Phone Faraday Sleeve

The premium phone Faraday sleeve fits the Librem 5 and Librem 5 USA like a glove and features a secure magnetic clasp. Once inside the sleeve, the Librem 5 will no longer be able to send or receive phone calls or SMS or transmit data over the modem, WiFi or Bluetooth devices.

Premium Laptop Faraday Sleeve

The premium laptop Faraday sleeve has similar styling and the same secure magnetic clasp as the phone sleeve, but is sized to accommodate the Librem 14 laptop. Once inside you can be sure that neither the WiFi nor Bluetooth devices can transmit or receive any data, and it will also block other electromagnetic radiation from the device.

Waterproof Faraday Backpack

We are also offering a waterproof Faraday backpack so you can protect and block both wireless signals and the rain from any devices you put inside. Each of our backpacks come with an insert to make it easier to organize everything.

The backpack also comes in a premium Made-in-USA version for customers who either want to support USA fabrication, or have strict supply chain requirements.

What About Hardware Kill Switches?

You might wonder, given that our Librem 14 and Librem 5 both come with hardware kill switches that disable all hardware that can transmit wirelessly, where would these Faraday products come in? We believe in a “belt and braces” defense-in-depth approach to security. While the hardware kill switches are convenient and effective to disable wireless hardware on our devices, there are a few reasons why you might want to consider the extra security of a Faraday sleeve.

First, you might simply want peace of mind that regardless of whether you remembered to engage the hardware kill switches, that your device is offline. Mistakes happen and sometimes you might forget to enable or disable hardware kill switches when you intend to. With the additional physical protection of a Faraday sleeve you can know that even with mistakes (or a phone kill switch that might get switched on by accident in your pocket), that your device is offline when you expect it to be.

Secondly, some people are concerned about protecting their devices from leaking wireless signals that come from other components in the system while on. Alternatively others are concerned about external wireless attacks against their system. In either case, if this is within your threat model, adding a physical barrier that blocks wireless transmissions might make sense.

Finally, you may want to add an extra layer of defense to your product while it is in transit from us to you. Add a note to your order at purchase time, and we can ensure your phone or laptop ships to you inside the Faraday sleeve.

Tested and Approved and Ready to Ship

We have been evaluating this full suite of accessories personally over the past couple months, including taking it all to Pasadena for the SCALE 20x conference. We’re glad we did, because while we are unaware of any specific wireless threats against my computer and phone, we can report the waterproof backpack did protect us from a different unexpected airborne threat: rain in Southern California! It was great having peace of mine that all of the electronics were safe both from the rain we could see and feel, and any wireless signals we couldn’t, and the backpack insert kept everything nicely organized.

We selected these particular products from the SLNT product line both because of their compatibility with our specific products, and also because the premium look and feel and minimal branding matches our own product line perfectly. Each product is made of durable, premium materials and you can be proud protecting your gear with them. We are now offering this full suite of SLNT Faraday products: the phone sleeve, laptop sleeve, waterproof backpack, and made-in-USA backpack in our shop starting today!

Purism Products and Availability Chart

	Model	Status	Lead Time
	Librem Key (Made in USA)	In Stock ($59+)	10 business days	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem 5	In Stock ($699+) 3GB/32GB	10 business days	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem 5 COMSEC Bundle	In Stock ($1299+) Qty 2; 3GB/32GB	10 business days	Learn More Buy Now
	Liberty Phone (Made in USA Electronics)	Backorder ($1,999+) 4GB/128GB	Estimated fulfillment early November	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem 5 + SIMple (3 GB Data)	In Stock ($99/mo)	10 business days	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem 5 + SIMple Plus (5 GB Data)	In Stock ($129/mo)	10 business days	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem 5 + AweSIM (Unlimited Data)	In Stock ($169/mo)	10 business days	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem 11	In Stock ($999+) 8GB/1TB	10 business days	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem 14	Backorder ($1,370+)	Estimated fulfillment date pending	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem Mini	Backorder ($799+)	Estimated fulfillment November	Learn More Buy Now
	Librem Server	In Stock ($2,999+)	45 business days	Learn More Buy Now