The Register: 8,000+ Asus routers popped in ‘advanced’ mystery botnet plot

May 29, 2025

—

Source URL: https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/29/8000_asus_routers_popped_in/
Source: The Register
Title: 8,000+ Asus routers popped in ‘advanced’ mystery botnet plot

Feedly Summary: No formal attribution made but two separate probes hint at the same suspect
Thousands of Asus routers are currently ensnared by a new botnet that is trying to disable Trend Micro security features before exploiting vulnerabilities for backdoor access.…

AI Summary and Description: Yes

Summary: The provided text highlights a significant security concern involving a new botnet targeting Asus routers. The botnet seeks to compromise security features before exploiting vulnerabilities, emphasizing the critical need for infrastructure security professionals to monitor and mitigate such threats.

Detailed Description: The text discusses the emergence of a botnet specifically designed to exploit vulnerabilities in thousands of Asus routers. Key implications for security and compliance professionals in the fields of information and infrastructure security include:

– **Targeted Devices**: Asus routers are a specific target, indicating that home and small office networks are potential entry points for security breaches.
– **Botnet Activities**: The botnet’s primary action involves disabling Trend Micro security features. This indicates a sophisticated level of attack aimed at circumventing established security measures.
– **Backdoor Access**: The ultimate goal of the botnet is to gain backdoor access to affected devices, which can lead to further exploitation, data theft, or the spread of malware within a network.
– **Need for Vigilance**: The incident exemplifies the need for proactive and continuous monitoring of network devices to anticipate and mitigate emerging threats.
– **Security Protocols**: Organizations should review and update their router security configurations, implement strong access controls, and ensure all devices are patched against known vulnerabilities.

This situation illustrates a growing trend in the security landscape, where threat actors leverage sophisticated techniques to disable security measures, emphasizing the importance of having robust incident response strategies and updated security solutions to protect infrastructure.

2 2025 5 800 a access access control access controls Act advanced AI and anti as Asus Asus routers attack attribution backdoor backdoor access Bi botnet breach breaches by C CERN CI co Col compliance compliance professionals Configuration configurations continuous monitoring control controls critical Current D data data theft de design device e emerging emerging threats end Entry exp exploit Exploitation feature features for g Gen GIS Go goal H high Highlight HR http HTTPS implications implications for security in incident incident response incident response strategies information infrastructure infrastructure security io k Key known vulnerabilities l land led level Li M made malware measures Micro Monitor monitoring my N network network devices networks no o of off on organization organizations out Patch phi point potential pre proactive professionals protocol protocols Q R rag rate RCE red response response strategies Ro RoT routers s Sable sam sec security security and compliance security breach security breaches security configurations security features security landscape security measure security measures security professionals security protocols security solutions Sig small solutions source specific SSE strategies T targeted tech techniques text the theft threat threat actor threat actors threats to Tor TP Trend Micro two up update US V vigilance vulnerabilities Ware Wi x