AutoML Machine Learning-Based for Detecting Qshing Attacks Malicious URL Classification Technology Research and Service Implementation

In recent trends, there has been an increase in 'Qshing' attacks, a hybrid form of phishing that exploits fake QR (Quick Response) codes impersonating government agencies to steal personal and financial information. Particularly, this attack method is characterized by its stealthiness, as victims can be redirected to phishing pages or led to download malicious software simply by scanning a QR code, making it difficult for them to realize they have been targeted. In this paper, we have developed a classification technique utilizing machine learning algorithms to identify the maliciousness of URLs embedded in QR codes, and we have explored ways to integrate this with existing QR code readers. To this end, we constructed a dataset from 128,587 malicious URLs and 428,102 benign URLs, extracting 35 different features such as protocol and parameters, and used AutoML to identify the optimal algorithm and hyperparameters, achieving an accuracy of approximately 87.37%. Following this, we designed the integration of the trained classification model with existing QR code readers to implement a service capable of countering Qshing attacks. In conclusion, our findings confirm that deriving an optimized algorithm for classifying malicious URLs in QR codes and integrating it with existing QR code readers presents a viable solution to combat Qshing attacks.