China's CVERC: new Silver Fox trojan variants lure HR staff with disciplinary and layoff lists

China's National Computer Virus Emergency Response Center (CVERC) warned it captured malware named after "internal investigation results", "disciplinary lists" and "layoff compensation", which are new variants of the Silver Fox Windows remote-control trojan ^[1]. The files pose as shortcuts, folders or PDFs and, once run, give attackers remote control and data theft, focusing on HR staff at sizeable organisations and potentially serving as a springboard for telecom fraud ^[1]. CVERC advises being wary of "disciplinary" or "layoff" files in new temporary work groups and emails, not clicking files from strangers, and verifying such files from colleagues with them directly or via official channels ^[1].

Industries mainly affected: Cross-industry

1. Be wary of "disciplinary" or "layoff" themed files in temporary chat groups and emails ^[1].
2. Do not click files from strangers; verify such files from colleagues with them directly ^[1].