QR Code Phishing (Quishing) Attacks: How to Spot & Prevent Them

This report describes the rise of QR code-based phishing (quishing), highlighting how attackers embed QR codes—often in PDF/XLSX attachments—to impersonate brands like Microsoft and DocuSign, redirecting victims to counterfeit login pages to steal credentials; it notes that about a quarter of recent phishing involved QR codes in PDFs and that two-thirds of attacks target organizational assets. The document provides illustrative examples, outlines key risks (lack of URL visibility, misplaced trust, speed, and wide distribution), and summarizes layered defenses offered by Seqrite/Quick Heal alongside high-level phishing TTPs.