Hackers Use QR Codes With No Images to Bypass Email Security
Brief
Hackers are using QR codes without image files to slip past email defenses. The tactic turns email markup into a scannable code, routing recipients to a phishing page while depriving many security tools of the image object they expect to inspect.
QR phishing moves victims from a monitored work computer to a mobile device. A scan can conceal the destination until the phone opens it, and attackers may use the landing page to steal sign-in details, session data, payment information, or deliver a harmful download.
Analysts from PhishU Framework identified the technique after examining a form of quishing that builds a QR pattern directly in an email body. It reflects the shift in which attackers alter delivery formats as mail gateways improve at detecting known lures.