A staggering increase in QR code phishing (quishing) attacks during 2023 saw them skyrocket up the list of concerns for cyber teams globally, according to Egress.
Attacks were both prolific and highly successful, demonstrating how cybercriminals effectively combine available technology with consumer familiarity (or complacency) at scale.
The evolution of phishing attack payloads
In 2021 and 2022, QR code payloads in phishing emails were relatively rare – accounting for 0.8% and 1.4% of attacks respectively. In 2023, this jumped to 12.4% and has continued at 10.8% for 2024 so far.
