IT Security Notice: ‘COVID-19’ Phishing Email


The McMaster IT Security team has received numerous reports of malicious messages purporting to come from David Farrar, President of McMaster. The email contains a .pdf attachment that, when opened, will infect a system with malware.

Be on the lookout for an email with the following elements:

  • The malicious email has the subject line “Member Alert COVID-19 Public Health Response”
  • The sender is “Gorny, Dieter “<dieter.gorny@hs-duesseldorf.de>”
  • The email is signed David Farrar

If you receive this message, please delete it right away.

If you opened the attachment, please scan your system right away. Please contact the Service Desk for assistance at uts@mcmaster.ca.

Contact McMaster IT Security for more information about this and other internet threats:

email: c-it-security@mcmaster.ca

Web: http://itsecurity.mcmaster.ca/

Twitter: @McMaster_ITSec (https://twitter.com/McMaster_ITSec)

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mcmaster.itsec