News
New Research: 22% of phishing attacks use QR codes
October 2023 by Hoxhunt
Hoxhunt released the findings of its latest research, which examines the rise of QR code phishing attacks, otherwise known as ‘quishing’ and analyzes human response toward such activity. As analyzed by Hoxhunt, 22% of phishing attacks used QR codes in the first weeks of October, based on data gathered from the company’s global human risk network.
In September 2023, Hoxhunt also conducted a quishing benchmark test, which examined nearly 600,000 employees from 38 organizations across 9 industries and 125 countries, revealing that just over one-third (36%) of recipients successfully identified and reported a stimulated QR code phishing attack. More than half failed to recognize it as a threat, while 5% failed the stimulation.
The study also reveals major susceptibility differences to quishing attacks based on job function and industry. Manufacturing was the most vulnerable to QR code phishing, with a 1.6x higher fail rate than the other industries. The retail industry also had the largest miss rate by far, where only 2/10 employees and organizations engaged with the benchmark.
