A research on QR Code security awareness in Ankara

The QR codes (Quick Response Code), which were first used in the production area in 1994, have spread to many areas of life (marketing, advertising, object identification, product tracking, etc.) with the use of mobile devices as QR code scanners. Despite the increasing popularity of QR codes, (i) does not create any perceptions of vulnerabilities among users and on the contrary, arouses curiosity (ii) the amount of data in the QR code is considerable (sufficient to execute attacks), making the QR code a target for attacks. There are many security issues and risks such as malicious code execution, redirection to unsafe web addresses and violation of user privacy. In this study, an online questionnaire has been applied on determining the level of awareness of individuals about possible security weaknesses of QR Codes in social life and the problems they will create. The young generation, who technology literate and has a fast adaptation to new technologies, has been chosen as the target.Within the scope of the study, three different QR Codes (Plain, Instructional and Illustrated) were designed and posters were prepared. These posters were hung for 40 days in many boards in Başkent University Bağlıca Campus and Hacettepe Technopolis. Users who scan QR Codes are directed to the web link where the online survey is located. 834 people visited the web address directed by the QR Code posters and the online questionnaire was answered by 262 people. The data collected from the questionnaire answers demonstrates that the motivations of users to scan the QR Code are mainly due to curiosity. In addition, it is concluded that users have a lack of information about potential threats and ways to protect themselves. At the end of this study, which can also be considered as a social engineering experiment, the attacks organized with QR Code and the measures that can be taken against these attacks are presented. Keywords: QR Code, Phishing Attack, Security of QR Codes.