Incomplete QR Code Security Using Functional Pattern Removal
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing QR codes are vulnerable to data leakage due to distortion and malicious identification, particularly when captured at angles by unauthorized devices, lacking sufficient security measures to prevent unauthorized access and data extraction.
Innovation Solution
The method involves generating incomplete QR codes by removing functional patterns like alignment and position detection patterns, and using error correction levels to ensure the QR code can still be identified by authorized devices, while making it impossible for unauthorized devices to reconstruct the original code.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If functional patterns (alignment patterns, position detection patterns) are removed from QR code to enhance security, then unauthorized devices cannot decode the QR code, but the QR code becomes incomplete and harder to identify
Solution Approach 1:
The QR code is segmented into functional patterns (alignment patterns, position detection patterns) and data regions. By selectively removing only the functional patterns while preserving the data regions and error correction mechanisms, the invention creates an incomplete QR code that maintains identifiability through remaining structures while preventing unauthorized decoding that requires complete functional patterns
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the completeness parameter of the QR code by removing specific functional patterns. This parameter change transforms a complete, decodable QR code into an incomplete one that authorized devices can still identify through error correction and remaining structures, but unauthorized devices cannot decode without the missing functional patterns
2Reliability
If error correction level is increased to maintain QR code identifiability after removing functional patterns, then the QR code can still be identified by authorized devices, but the data capacity of the QR code is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies partial error correction by removing only specific functional patterns rather than the entire QR code structure. This partial action allows authorized devices to use error correction mechanisms to identify and reconstruct the incomplete QR code, while the removed functional patterns prevent unauthorized decoding, effectively balancing identifiability with security
3Object-affected harmful factors
If QR code is captured at an angle by unauthorized devices, then the QR code image becomes distorted, but existing QR codes can still be decoded with angle correction
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies preliminary anti-action by removing functional patterns before the QR code is captured. This pre-emptive measure ensures that even if unauthorized devices capture the QR code at angles and attempt geometric correction, the decoded data will be incomplete or corrupted without the essential functional patterns, thereby preventing malicious identification
Data Source
AI summary
A method of reading a QR code is described. The method includes capturing an image of an incomplete QR code. The incomplete QR code has a missing region with a missing functional pattern. Further, the functional pattern is added to the missing region in the incomplete QR code to form a recovered QR code. Subsequently, pixels are added randomly to the missing region surrounding the functional pattern to add to the recovered QR code. The recovered QR code has a number of functional patterns and a number of modules. Further, data is read from the recovered QR code.