The news about QR codes
Most people have seen quick response codes, though they’ve actually been common in North America since 2006. They were invented in Japan in 1998 to make car inventory less of a hassle during manufacturing. They quickly became preferred in other industries due to the ease of reading and the ability to store large amounts of information. It’s intriguing to note that Denso Wave, a subsidiary of Toyota, owns the patent rights to the QR code, but has chosen not to exercise them. There are several other patent rights to both the code and the name, the QR code, so it is necessary for all companies that use them to ensure that they use both a standard type and a licensed type.
Ways to read and use the codes it is extremely simple. Download a QR code app on your mobile phone equipped with a video camera. There are many, but RedLaser is great for Apple or Android types. Blackberry users can choose QR Scanner Pro. After following the instructions, simply take a photo of the code you want to scan, making sure you’re as close as possible and without reflections. Once the app has recognized the code, it will surely take you to the designated site on your mobile tool.
when it comes to the information presented by QR codesthere’s also various versions of QR codes. Variation 4, the most common today, has up to 55 characters, but much larger versions are sure to come soon. There is already a version 10 with 174 characters and additional tracking boxes (not just the 3 that appear in the previous model). There is a new Variation 40 that can feature 142 characters.
here are some warnings. I’m going to quote directly from the Wikipedia article. Security measures are now being produced to protect against these tagging issues (attack tagging), but it’s a good idea to examine before downloading an app. The sources of these details have been thoroughly reviewed by Wikipedia contributors. Please refer to the original article.
Malicious QR Codes combined with a permissive reader can put a computer’s content and user privacy at risk. This practice is known as “atagging”, a combination of “attack tagging”. They are easily created and can be placed over legitimate QR codes. On a smartphone, the reader’s many permissions can allow camera use, full internet access, contact data read/write, GPS, browser history read, local storage read/write, and global system changes . Risks include linking to dangerous websites with browser vulnerabilities, enabling microphone/camera/GPS and then transmitting those transmissions to a remote server, analyzing sensitive data (passwords, files, contacts, transactions), and sending messages email/SMS/IM or DDOS Packets as part of a Botnet, which corrupt privacy settings, steal identity and even contain malicious logic such as JavaScript or a virus. These actions can occur in the background while the user only sees the reader opening a seemingly harmless web page. In Russia, a malicious QR code caused phones that scanned it to send premium text messages at a rate of $6 each.
Unfortunately, the use of QR codes has become a huge security risk for mobile phones, according to e-Cycle.
Mobile phones and tablets contain an overwhelming amount of sensitive data. Confidential emails, business contacts and passwords are available on mobile phones and tablets. Making this information susceptible to hackers can be disastrous, and while most people have learned to think twice before clicking on a suspicious link sent to them in an email, they don’t exercise the same level of caution. when it comes to QR codes. This lack of protection makes QR codes a growing risk in mobile security. Users should be aware of the mobile security risk posed by QR codes and view the website they are directed to before scanning. Several QR code apps allow the option to preview the link before scanning the barcode. This precaution prevents the user from scanning a code when the URL appears suspicious. Many times when a QR code is fraudulent, it will take the user directly to a login screen. Cyber criminals use this form as a trap to retrieve personal information. In most cases, personal information should not be requested when scanning a QR code. Legitimate codes will automatically complete a request or only require contact information for subscriptions. To see the rest of this article, click here.
An additional means is to use a quick response code app that inspects codes before they are opened, such as Norton Snap. If there is a “bad” code, the reader or application will surely notify you and advise you not to open it. Companies must also clearly indicate what you will see after opening a QR code. As with email and phone calls, no one should give up personal data after opening a code. Now, there are programs that can modify what you see when you open code. It is not always just the web page of an Internet site. It can be a video, a sales web page, any number of things, and the website can be changed every minute by the program or plugin. Google Chrome has a setting that allows you to develop a QR code simply by right-clicking on a website.
It seems that QR codes and barcodes are here to stay and both are extremely beneficial. Restaurants and real estate offices in particular have fully embraced them. They are easy to do and effortlessly turn into information or lead to sites. Having lived in Japan for 15 years, I congratulate the Japanese people for inventing something small and so beneficial, like one of their small computer systems or semiconductors. By the way, QR codes can also be used with Kanji, the text used by the Chinese and Japanese, so they have actually been fully adopted in China, including on train passes and soon passports.