What is Quishing ?

QR Codes are now become an important part of our daily lives. From scanning product information to visiting websites, OR codes are everywhere and provide us with a fast and efficient way to share and access data. But now day cybercriminals are using QR codes to conduct phishing attacks to steal personal user information such as login credentials or credit card numbers. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at “What Quishing is and how it is carried out by the cybercriminal”.

What is Quishing?

Quishing also known as QR code Phishing is a type of phishing attack in which instead of using malicious attachments or links it uses a QR code to trick users into scanning them. When users scan QR codes developed by cybercriminals to perform phishing attacks, they are redirected to a malicious website that either inserts malware into the user’s devices or asks them to give their personal information like login credentials or credit card numbers.

How Does Quishing Work?

The attacking process begins when a cybercriminal creates a malicious website. A malicious website is specifically designed to trick targets into downloading malware to the target device when they land on the page or trick the target into revealing their sensitive data. Once the malware enters the system, it initiates its replication mechanism, which helps it create multiple copies of itself using available resources. The replication process enables the virus to spread its effect throughout the system.

Once the malicious website is ready then cybercriminals generate a QR code that connects with that malicious website. As we know QR code is like a special barcode with a link encoded inside. we can scan it with our phone or a barcode reader. When the QR code is ready cybercriminals will send the QR code via email or text message or place them in public spaces such as posters for people to scan. When someone scans the QR code they end up on a fake website that injects malware or asks to share personal information.

Quishing Challenge

Quishing involves the use of multiple devices which poses various challenges for the organization. When cybercriminals send a quashing email with a QR code to a target user, the user might receive the quishing email on one device and then use another device to scan the QR code and open the linked webpage. This presents a challenge for the organization as they cannot effectively scan the email for potential threats using their cybersecurity protocol. If the target user opens this email using a work device then there is a chance that the organization’s devices could be infected with the malware if the organization’s security tool fails to detect and block the threat.

How to Detect a Quishing Attack?

Spotting Quishing attacks on time is very important to protect ourselves. Some of the signs help us in detecting the QR code has been infected or not.

• Check email origin and use email filters: Check the sender’s email address. Reputable organizations usually have official email addresses. Therefore aware if the email comes from an unknown or suspicious source. Use an email filtering system that helps in identifying potential malicious emails and putting them away from the inbox.

• Text Analysis: To identify an email as a phishing email, try to pay attention to how the email is written. If it tries to make you worried or rushed then try to avoid this type of email.

• QR code detection: Cybercriminals attach QR codes in emails to perform quishing attacks. With a secure QR scanner, we can decrypt the encrypted link in the QR and then check the link for threats. If the link is secure then a secure QR scanner will prompt us to open it in our device’s default browser.

How Can End-Users Prevent Quishing Attack?

To protect ourselves from Quishing attacks we should follow some security measures. By taking these precautions we can proactively protect ourselves and minimize the risk of falling victim to a Quishing attack.

• Backup data regularly: Regular data backup is very important as it helps us minimize the risk of data loss or file corruption.

• Enable multi-factor authentication on account: Enabling multi-factor authentication on our account helps prevent fraud and improves overall security because multi-factor authentication adds an extra layer to the login process. Somehow even if hackers successfully trick us into scanning a malicious QR code they still need another form of verification to access the account.

• Avoid Scanning unknown QR codes: We should always avoid unknown QR codes because if we scan a malicious QR code it can redirect us to a malicious website that can either inject malware into our device or steal our personal information.

• Check the authenticity of the QR code website address: After scanning the QR code be sure to check the link of the QR code before clicking on it. Make sure it is an official website and not a fake one. Today antivirus programs have a WebAdvisor tool that helps us determine whether a website is safe to click on based on the URL and page content.

• Use effective security suites and antivirus software: To protect our device or computer from known and unknown threats effective and up-to-date security suites and antivirus software are essential. These tools protect against all forms of viruses and other potential threats.

• Keep operating systems and security software up to date: Keeping operating systems and security software up to date helps in protecting against recently discovered vulnerabilities. Through regular updates, we ensure that any newly discovered vulnerabilities are patched making it harder for attackers to exploit them.

Conclusion

QR codes are an integral part of our daily lives, but cybercriminals are now also using them to conduct phishing attacks to steal user personal information such as login details or credit card numbers. The attacker creates a malicious QR code that looks like a genuine QR code but redirects users to a Fraudulent website which is designed by the attacker to steal user personal information or deploy malware into the stem. Therefore, it is going to be very important to detect and prevent quishing attacks on time. By verifying the authenticity of QR codes and using email filters and security software, users can reduce the risks associated with scanning QR codes.

Frequently Asked Questions on Quishing -FAQs

What is the simplest way to protect ourselves from Quishing Attack?

The simplest thing we can do to protect ourselves from quishing attack is that we should always avoid unknown QR codes because if we scan a malicious QR code it can redirect us to a malicious website that can either inject malware into our device or steal our personal information.

How to Identify a Quishing Attack?

There are two ways which help us in identify whether QR code has been infected or not:

• Check sender email address reputable organization usually have official email address. Therefore be careful if the email comes from an unknown or suspicious source.
• Cybercriminal attach QR codes in email for performing quishing attack. With secure QR scanner we can decrypt the encrypted link in the QR and then check the link for threats. If the link is secure then secure QR scanner will prompt us to open it in our device default browser.