Ride the Lightning
Cybersecurity and Future of Law Practice Blog
by Sharon D. Nelson Esq., President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
QR Code Malware: A New Frontier for the Bad Guys
January 3, 2012
I have never been a fan of QR codes. Most of them seem to take you to what is effectively an advertisement. Most of the destinations are boring and a waste of time – some are downright annoying for their high pressure selling.
But as they have become nearly ubiquitous, it is only recently that security experts have begun to see QR malware. It was inevitable – the beautiful simplicity of the QR code is that you can't tell where it is taking you. Your phone scans it and off you go, perhaps to an infected website. The bad guys seem to have cottoned on to the fact that folks are curious – stick a QR code on a plain white wall and they are apt to scan it just to see where it goes.
In this case, curiosity might be your undoing. While QR malware is by no means widespread, experts are predicting that things will get worse. Now that there are QR based payment systems, malware writers are sure to be interested in taking a direct path to your money.
If you want to be more secure, use only QR code reader software that permits you to confirm the action to be taken, such as visiting a website link. If you don't know and trust the link, you can cancel the action.
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