Difference between revisions of "QR Codes"

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QR Codes and their amount of data.^[4]

Background

History

A standard one-dimensional barcode.^[5]

In 1994, under lead developer Masahiro Hara, the company Denso Wave invented QR codes as an improved version of barcodes.^[6]. A setback of regular barcodes was that they could not store enough information, which limited their usage.^[2] For example, a Code-129 barcode, as seen on the right, is a high-density, one-dimensional barcode that can encode letters, numbers, special characters, and control codes. These barcodes can only hold 48 characters of information. Even the most sophisticated one-dimensional barcode can only hold up to 85 characters.^[5] In contrast, a QR code can hold up to 7,089 characters— almost 150 times as much information as a one-dimensional Code-129 barcode.^[6].

Usage

Position Detecting Patterns on a QR Code^[7]

QR codes are read by mobile phones with camera capabilities or QR scanners. Humans cannot manually interpret QR codes, nor can they be read by traditional laser scanners.^[8] In their article QR Codes in Education, Law and So describe how position detection patterns at three corners of the code are used to read them at any orientation and direction. They describe how QR codes can even be tilted or on a curved surface and still successfully display the information embedded within the code. The device used to read the code then interprets the message and displays information or performs an action on the user's device.^[6] QR codes can be used to link to URLs, for payment, to log in to a website, to view a restaurant menu, to display multimedia content, and more.

Types of QR Codes

There are many types of QR codes. The original QR code was called Model 1, able to store up to 1,167 numerals.^[9]. The most commonly used version today is the Model 2, with a limit of 7,089 characters.^[6] Additionally, there is a smaller version of the standard QR code called the Micro QR code which is limited to 35 numeric characters. Its benefit is in its smaller size, allowing it to be displayed in smaller spaces as compared to the Model 1 and Model 2. In total, there are forty different varieties of QR codes with distinct data capacities including the mentioned ones, as well as iQR, Frame QR, Secure QR Code, and LogoQ.^[10].

Ethical Implications

Since they require minimal technical skills to utilize, QR codes are a versatile and quick method of connecting users to information.^[6] However, there are several ethical concerns surrounding QR codes. The primary challenge associated with maliciously compromised QR codes is informing the user of the incident. Krombholz et. al suggest that it would be beneficial to add a verification process that is transparent to the user, or warnings to let them know of possible threats before they open dangerous URLs or media.^[10]

A Consumer Report by the Better Business Bureau describes how blindly scanning QR codes entails risks that are akin to the risks of blindly clicking links in received emails.^[11] The main caveat in this case is that while users have the ability to reason that links within a spam email could be dangerous or suspicious, and thus users can choose to avoid following such links, users are unable to decipher the integrity of a given QR code as QR codes are not designed to be human-readable, and thus users cannot learn anything about the nature of a QR code unless they scan it with their device.^[11][12] While this vulnerability is prone to be exploited when a user relies on the native QR scanning functionality built into their device’s camera application, there do exist several downloadable applications that counteract this hazard by granting users a preview of information about the webpage that the QR code points to before opening a potentially dangerous webpage instead of immediately just reading and loading the website pointed to by the QR code.^[11]

Individuals that attempt to override QR codes are likely doing it with malicious intent. Social engineering is the most common type of attack.^[10] Phishing is a type of social engineering and a common practice used by hackers in which the attacker attempts to steal the information by pretending to be an organization or person that the subject trusts.^[13][14] Information that could be stolen includes but is not limited to usernames, passwords, addresses, contacts, and credit card information. Ill-intentioned actors can also exploit users who scan their malicious QR codes by redirecting them to spoofed websites that distribute malware.^[15] Another reason why malicious actors hijack or tamper with existing QR codes can be to enact forms of culture jamming.^[15][16]

Two Forms of Attack

The two primary attack strategies are 1) replacing the entire QR code and 2) modifying individual parts of it.^[10]

When the attacker replaces the entire code, rather than eliminate the old one entirely, they layer a new QR code with the malicious link encoded over the pre-existing one.^[10] Attackers can do this by printing their own QR code stickers and placing them directly over publicly accessible QR codes^[15][16] The malicious actors also try to design their custom QR code stickers to be the same size as the pre-existing QR code that they are targeting in an attempt to better disguise the integration of their malicious QR code.^[15][16] QR codes that are physically accessible in public areas with high volumes of foot-traffic, such as on public posters or signs at bus stops or retail locations, are highly susceptible to this form of QR code hijacking.^[15][16][17]

The second form of attack involves modifying the encoded content by inverting the color of a pixel in the QR code: i.e., turn a black pixel into a white pixel or turn a white pixel into a black pixel.^[10][15].

Twitter Incident 2012

Screenshot of The Jester's Current Twitter Profile^[18]

The Jester, a "self-described patriotic hacker" (@th3j35t3r on Twitter), used QR code technology in an alleged multi-layered attack against world leaders in which he broke into their mobile phones and copied incriminating data.^[19] NBC reported that the Jester’s main targets were websites that recruited followers for Al-Qaeda. According to NBC, to execute the attack, he changed his Twitter profile picture to a QR code. When users went to the website from the QR code, it connected them to a server that determined if the user had a Twitter account and if their device was a target phone. The Jester's server then received the target usernames and used them to analyze if the usernames were associated with "Anonymous news sites and chat rooms, Islamist recruiting sites and WikiLeaks." The Jester then attempted to steal phone data, including messages, emails, contacts, and call logs, from the targeted phones.^[19] These "hacktivists" have been surrounded by ethical questions about its morality, with some arguing they have no moral code and some claiming they follow their own societal norms.^[20]

References

1. ↑ Gregersen, Erik. (n.d.). QR Code. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/technology/QR-Code.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Stein, Adriana. (2020, January 1). How QR Codes Work and Their History. QR Code Generator. https://www.qr-code-generator.com/blog/how-qr-codes-work-and-their-history/
3. ↑ Luna, N. (2020, July 14). Tech tracker: restaurants are turning to QR codes during the coronavirus pandemic for digital menus and contactless payment. Restaurant Hospitality. https://www.restaurant-hospitality.com/technology/tech-tracker-restaurants-are-turning-qr-codes-during-coronavirus-pandemic-digital-menus
4. ↑ Taylor, Lee. (2017, February). How Much Data Can a QR Code Hold? http://qrcode.meetheed.com/question7.php
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1} Premier Electronics Inc. (n.d.). Barcode Types - Identification and Understanding. Premier Electronics Inc. https://www.premierelectronics.com/blog/barcode-types-identificaton-understanding#
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4} Law, Ching-yin and So, Simon (2010). QR Codes in Education. Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE): Vol. 3 : Iss. 1 , Article 7. https://aquila.usm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1011&context=jetde
7. ↑ Chiampo M., Raman A., Roest J. (2017, November 30). Inside QR Codes: How Black & White Dots Simplify Digital Payments. https://www.cgap.org/blog/inside-qr-codes-how-black-white-dots-simplify-digital-payments
8. ↑ Rouillard, José. (2009, October 11). Contextual QR Codes. 2008 The Third International Multi-Conference on Computing in the Global Information Technology (iccgi 2008), Athens, Greece, 2008, pp. 50-55. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=4591344
9. ↑ Chang, Jae Hwa. (2014, July 30). An introduction to using QR codes in scholarly journals. Science Editing. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.986.6494&rep=rep1&type=pdf
10. ↑ ^{10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5} Krombholz K., Frühwirt P., Kieseberg P., Kapsalis I., Huber M., Weippl E. (2014). QR Code Security: A Survey of Attacks and Challenges for Usable Security. Human Aspects of Information Security, Privacy, and Trust. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007%2F978-3-319-07620-1_8.pdf
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1 11.2} Newman, R. (2011, June 23). Consumer Alert: QR Code Safety. Better Business Bureau. https://archive.is/20120715010216/http://sandiego.bbb.org/article/consumer-alert-qr-code-safety-28037
12. ↑ Kieseberg, P., Schrittwieser, S., Leithner, M., Mulazzani, M., Weippl, E., Munroe, L., & Sinha, M. (2012, January). Malicious Pixels Using QR Codes as Attack Vector. Research Gate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/303653249_Malicious_Pixels_Using_QR_Codes_as_Attack_Vector
13. ↑ Jagatic, T., Johnson, N. et al. (2007, October). Social Phishing Volume 50 Issue 10. Communications of the ACM. https://dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml/10.1145/1290958.1290968?casa_token=aKPSW2sVqnMAAAAA:OH7v7hXko3P8lyga-GNd8zQMqD_AS_QcAULLPg3M7Ln17OeJ9uLZHogaIJhtgc97saukLp3-A8up
14. ↑ Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. (2020, August 20). Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks. https://us-cert.cisa.gov/ncas/tips/ST04-014
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.5} Liebowitz, M. (2011, September 13). QR Tags Can Be Rigged to Attack Smart Phones. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/qr-tags-can-be-rigged-to/
16. ↑ ^{16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3} Elster, K. (n.d.). QR Codes Vulnerable To Hijack Via Slap-Tagging. EtherCycle. https://ethercycle.com/blog/156
17. ↑ Kennon, M. (n.d.). What is a QR Code?. Parnassus Creative. http://www.printmedia.parnassuscreative.com/index.php/diy/print-media/13-what-is-a-qr-code
18. ↑ JΞSŦΞR ✪ ΔCŦUΔL³³°¹, @th3j35t3r. (2021, March). Screenshot. Twitter. https://twitter.com/th3j35t3r
19. ↑ ^{19.0 19.1} Wagenseil, Paul. (2012, March 13). Anti-Anonymous hacker threatens to expose them. NBC News. SecurityNewsDaily. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna46716942
20. ↑ Scott, T., Cupp, O. (2018). Ethics of Hacktivism. The Simons Center. https://thesimonscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Ethics-Symp-pg143-148.pdf