2024-07-09 11:18:12
The QR code (for “Quick Response Code”) has become ubiquitous in the daily lives of French people. It is used to order at a restaurant, share a Wi-Fi code, pay a bill or fine or even direct a user to an information site. These small codes to scan can cause security problems, especially in the run-up to the Olympic Games.
More than 800 current criminal cases involve QR codes, most of which are classified as scams, explains the UNCyber Group (UNCyber) to West France, which shows “a significant increase in these facts in recent months”. According to Jean-Jacques Latour, director of cybersecurity consulting at Cybermalveillance. government questions through the newspaper, “Olympic will coax more crooks”.
Whether it is to access tickets, restricted areas or even connect to Wi-Fi, authorities fear an increase in this type of scam.
What is quishing?
Quishing is a restriction of “QR code impersonation”, a type of impersonation. The user must scan an access code with their smartphone camera which links to a website address or prompts them to download an app. But this QR code, stuck on top of a flower for example, will redirect to a fake website imitating that of a restaurant or an institution. When you enter your personal or banking details, they will be stolen. Fraudsters can also use this to introduce a malicious agent into the phone.
“These techniques are particularly surprising because the cyberattack goes through the camera and therefore bypasses the scanners and security filters,” said cybersecurity researcher at CyberArk Len Noe to Le Parisien.
How to protect yourself from it?
Reliability is important to protect yourself from fraudulent QR, pay attention to the excess detection showing the presence of a sticker in particular. If in doubt, it is better not to scan the QR code and use the search engine to find the information. Also, it is good to check the referring URL address which may not correspond to that of the restaurant for example.
In addition, to protect yourself from this type of scam, the file or application should not be downloaded through the QR code but rather through the App Store or Play Store.
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