By Ellen Chang The use of QR codes rose during the pandemic and hackers took advantage of the opportunity to steal financial data. QR codes with their square barcode regained their popularity when the pandemic began because consumers found them easy to use and businesses did not have to worry about contamination from contact. Many companies, especially restaurants started using QR or Quick Response codes and swapped them out for menus since customers could scan them from their smartphones within a few seconds. Other industries adopted QR codes for coupons, bills or to learn more information ab…