FBI Warns North Korean Hackers Using Malicious QR Codes in Spear-Phishing
On Thursday, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a warning about North Korean state-sponsored threat actors using malicious QR codes in spear-phishing efforts that target North Korean enterprises.
According to the FBI's flash notice, as of 2025, Kimsuky actors have used spear-phishing campaigns with malicious Quick Response (QR) codes to target think tanks, academic institutions, and both foreign and U.S. government bodies. Quishing is the term for this kind of spear-phishing assault.
By forcing victims to switch from a machine protected by business policies to a mobile device that might not provide the same level of protection, the usage of QR codes for phishing successfully allows threat actors to get around conventional protections.
Threat group Kimsuky, also...