Please remain vigilant for cybersecurity scams related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Cyber actors may send emails with malicious attachments or links to fraudulent websites to trick victims into revealing sensitive information or donating to fraudulent charities or causes. Do not install Android or Apple related software with COVID-19 Heat Map Patient Tracking or go to non-government Heat-Map websites. Exercise caution in handling any email with a COVID-19-related subject line, attachment, or hyperlink, and be wary of social media pleas, or calls related to COVID-19.
The Canadian government encourages individuals to remain vigilant and take the following precautions.
- Avoid clicking on links in unsolicited emails and be wary of email attachments. See Using Caution with Email Attachments and Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Scams for more information.
- Use trusted sources—such as legitimate, government websites—for up-to-date, fact-based information about COVID-19.
- Do not reveal personal or financial information in email, and do not respond to email solicitations for this information.
- Verify a charity’s authenticity before making donations.
- Review CISA Insights on Risk Management for COVID-19 for more information.
York University Information Security is committed to detecting real-time threats using Antivirus monitoring. Security scanning is in place and the IT groups are responding to new COVID-19 threats by implementing infrastructure security updates. Please contact your helpdesk for any related security concerns and report any suspicious activity via the “phishing” link in email.
