ICT Security-Sécurité PC et Internet

Cybercrooks are putting up stickers featuring URLs embedded in Quick Response codes (QR codes) as a trick designed to drive traffic to dodgy sites.

 

Sian John, UK security strategist at Symantec, said: “There has been an explosion in the number of QR codes over the last couple of years, and cybercriminals are taking full advantage. Because QR codes just look like pictures it’s extremely difficult to tell if they’re genuine or malicious, making it easy to dupe passers-by into scanning codes that may lead to an infected site, or perhaps a phishing site.

 

===========================================

 

Gust MEES

 

Please check also:

 

- http://www.scoop.it/t/apps-for-any-use-mostly-for-education-and-free?tag=QR-Reader-App

 

===========================================

 

Read more:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/10/qr_code_sticker_scam/

 

Just as the use of QR codes slowly creeps toward mainstream adoption in the United States, someone has found a way to exploit them. But how serious is the threat?

Most people already know what QR codes are: a new type of "barcode" that can be used for a variety of purposes - tracking, ticketing, labeling of products, and many more.

 

They can also be used for storing URLs, allowing users to scan them with their smartphones and be immediately directed to the URL in question on their device's browser - an ability that researcher Augusto Peryra recently claimed will be soon misused by cyber criminals to direct users to malware.