The Rise of QR Codes
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many things in our society, but among the things that do not come to mind are QR Codes. QR codes are the funky looking stamps that you see at the top of this message. These codes have begun to pop up everywhere for things such as selling merchandise, ordering and paying at restaurants, etc.
What's The Big Deal?
QR codes are an excellent tool to streamline tasks for mobile devices. So useful, in fact, that many manufacturers have begun to make the cameras on their phones natively able to read the codes without the need for an additional application. They are becoming a part of everyday life. But this frequency allows an avenue to take advantage.
Bad actors can make QR codes just as easily as other places. In fact, the QR code at the top of this email took just 45 seconds to make - and nearly 30 seconds of that was waiting for it to produce the image. It is possible to do the same thing with links that are no different than phishing emails.
What To Do
You should always be careful of opening links on via QR code. Among the things that could be done using QR codes are opening a fake website or even adding a fake contact to the phone (like a generic Mom contact to text you from) or initiating a call so that they can log your phone number.
The easiest methods to protect yourself are to verify that QR codes are from legitimate, reputable sources. Another helpful task is to check the URL before clicking through. Link changers like tinyurl and bit.ly may present some concern as they are hiding the full URL and the purpose of a QR code is to make it easy to access long links, so there is no need to use one of these services to shorten the URL for a legitimate purpose. In the event it is a bit.ly link, the page and URL can be previewed by typing "+" at the end of the URL before actually heading to the link itself.
We strive to look out for the best interest of our customers and their procurement in the IT venue. Be it hardware, software or service related, we want to guide you in the most effective manner possible.
