Malicious pixels: QR-codes as attack vectors

March 14, 2013 (at 11:30 a.m.) in Attacks & Research

QR-Codes, a version of two-dimensional barcodes that are able to store quite large amounts of information, started gaining huge popularity throughout the last few years, including all sorts of new applications for them. Originating from the area of logistics, they found their ways into marketing and since the rise of modern smartphones with their ability to scan them in the street; they can be found virtually everywhere, often linking to sites on the internet. Currently even standards for paying using QR-codes were proposed and standardized. In this talk we will highlight possible attack vectors arising from the use of QR-Codes. Furthermore we will outline an algorithm for calculating near-collisions in order to launch phishing attacks and we will demonstrate the practical utilization of this technique.