Daily Cyber Threat Brief – Ep 1019 (Dec 4, 2025)

Host: Dr. Gerald Auger (Simply Cyber Media Group)
Special Segment Host: Daniel Lowry as “TechNeck”
Show Date: December 4, 2025

Main Theme / Purpose of Episode

This episode delivers the top cyber news stories of December 4th, 2025, with expert commentary and career-building advice for cybersecurity professionals at all levels. Featuring the usual blend of education and community banter, Dr. Gerald Auger covers major threats and vulnerabilities, breaking down technical details and business impact, with a humorous and supportive tone. The episode wraps with “Jawjacking,” a Q&A and commentary session hosted by the ever-entertaining Daniel Lowry (“TechNeck”).

Key Discussion Points and Insights

[12:41] Record-Breaking DDoS Attack by Azuro Botnet

• Details: Azuro shattered DDoS records with a 29.7 Tbps attack, leveraging a botnet of ~4 million compromised routers and IoT devices. Cloudflare absorbed the brunt of the attack. Nearly half of recent DDoS activity is now “hypervolumetric.”
• Insight:
  • Raises alarm about the sheer scale: “At the peak of Mirai botnet...450,000 to 500,000 endpoints compromised... Isuru is 4 million infected hosts, literally 10 times larger than Mirai back in the day...” (Auger, [15:47])
  • Wonders how the botnet is spreading: “How is it building its botnet that large... With Mirai, it was attacking default credentialed Internet of Things devices. I don't know if Isuru is doing the same thing, but 4 million is quite insane.” (Auger, [15:47])
  • Practical advice: Organizations hosting their own web services must prioritize DDoS mitigation (“Cloudflare is kind of the default standard service for handling denial service attacks.” [17:25])
• Memorable Moment: “29.7 terabits per second is insane... This is clearly a uber legit denial of service service.” (Auger, [13:23–13:47])

[18:53] Severe React Server Component Vulnerability (“React to Shell”)

• Details: Critical RCE flaw in React server components (CVE, CVSS 10.0), impacting apps using React Server Function endpoints, Next.js, and related libraries. Estimated 40% of Internet cloud/web environments could be at risk.
• Insight:
  • Immediate response: “If you see unauthenticated remote code execution, your antenna should immediately go up. This is the worst.” (Auger, [19:50])
  • Guidance: “Not just fix the problem but then go investigate if you have already been exploited... This is a really bad one. All right? One that you don't want in your environment.” (Auger, [23:22])
  • Action steps: Validate if your stack is vulnerable; prioritize emergency patching but use change management to avoid self-inflicted outages. ([24:45])
• Notable Quote: “You’re going to hear about some sites getting popped pretty soon.” (Auger, [20:42])

[25:00] Ransom House Attack Takes Down Japanese Retail Giant Askul

• Details: Askul (major office goods retailer, “Staples meets Amazon”) recovers from six-week ransomware outage that forced customers to submit orders via fax (!). Data on customers and suppliers was also leaked.
• Insight:
  • Contextualizes for seasonality: “This time of year, people are... buying everything for everyone. Happy holidays, Black Friday, Cyber Monday. And when you're having to submit your orders through fax... It's not a good situation.” (Auger, [26:14])
  • Business continuity lesson: “Even though sending a fax is awful... it is a business continuity solution... This is an opportunity for you to remember that ransomware is a top threat... and you should be doing tabletop exercises... to verify that you... can recover quickly.” (Auger, [28:42])
  • Emphasizes: “You don't want to be a Jaguar Land Rover who didn't have an answer and was down for like three months and, and lost half a billion dollars.” (Auger, [30:10])

[31:11] UK Government Moves to Ban Ransomware Payments for Public/Critical Sectors

• Details: Proposal would prohibit ransom payments by the public sector & critical national infrastructure (CNI) organizations, with “national security exceptions.” Other businesses must notify authorities before paying.
• Insight:
  • Healthy skepticism: “National security is definitely a subjective term... If you're, you know, Barclays or Marks and Spencer, maybe you're too big to fail... So I'm being a little cynical here...” (Auger, [32:16])
  • Devil’s in the details: “The devil is always in the details. And what defines a national security exception is what's going to get this thing all gunked up and stuck.” (Auger, [34:52])
  • Reflects on similar U.S. measures: “The United States has done this at the federal level... It doesn't seem to have slowed anything down.” (Auger, [35:11])
• Notable Quote: “Threat actors steal the data and sell it to each other. They're gonna get paid.” (Auger, [32:01])

[41:23] Meme of the Week – “Battlefield 6 Squad”

• Community Segment: Weekly "What's Your Meme Thursday" feature, this week themed around “Battlefield 6.” Meme features community members as a squad, with Dan Reardon called out for his contributions.
• Tone: Uplifting, celebratory, inside-joke for the Discord/hobbyist Simply Cyber community.
• Auger’s Comment: “...I would make this my wallpaper on my phone or my computer if I was a younger man. Having this as your wallpaper is a younger man's game.” ([40:43])

[41:58] University of Phoenix Hit by Clop Ransomware via Oracle EBS Zero Day

• Details: Following Ivy League breaches, UPhoenix (iconic for-profit online university) breached via zero-day in Oracle E-Business Suite. Personal and financial data stolen.
• Insight:
  • Remarks on trend: “Somebody at Oracle who works in the sales department had a hook into the higher education scene and went gangbusters selling Oracle EBS to higher ed. All right, there's clearly a trend here. They all got slapped in the mouth.” (Auger, [42:36])
  • Contextual humor: On famous ransomware brands: “Clop... the most elegant and... well oiled ransomware threat actor. Again, I'm being playful. I don't support, condone or endorse cybercrime.” (Auger, [43:08])

[44:54] Google Expands Android In-Call Scam Protection for Banking Apps

• Details: Android’s scam protection now covers major US fintech apps; alerts users if unknown callers attempt to coerce screen-sharing/banking info, with a persistent 30s warning.
• Insight:
  • Praises initiative: “I love this, guys, listen... at the end of the day, everybody needs Cyber Security... Thank you Google. I'm still not going to use Android devices, but... this right here puts an alert on the screen that you have to acknowledge and it doesn't go away for 30 seconds.” (Auger, [45:38])
  • Realism: “This isn't going to solve all the problems. Definitely educate your end users and your loved ones this holiday season with awareness of social engineering and whatnot.” ([47:35])

[48:08] Elementor WordPress Plugin Exploited–48,000+ Attempts

• Details: King Addons for Elementor flaw allows unauthenticated attackers to grant themselves admin control on sites (v24.12.92–51.1.14 vulnerable). Over 48,000 exploitation attempts since patch.
• Advice:
  • “If you're running WordPress... Remove all plugins that you're not using... Make sure you keep your plugins up to date and patched... If you just have this thing lingering, guess what? You're gonna get pwned.” (Auger, [49:12])

[50:15] Microsoft Quietly Mitigates Windows LNK Zero-Day

• Details: A high-severity LNK (shortcut) vulnerability was being used by both state and criminal groups to deliver malware. Update: Windows now reveals the full target path (formerly abused for hiding payloads with whitespace).
• Insight:
  • Layered defense: “Sending LNK files... usually sent via email... distributed in zip... because email platforms will block LNK attachments...” (Auger, [50:58])
  • On patch value: “Thank you, Microsoft. Not a bad idea. But dude, like... My Aunt Dorothy... I don't know if you're going to right-click and look at the properties... as a general end user... My Aunt Dorothy is not doing this, okay? If anything, this might help prevent malware analysis from a cyber security professional... But dude, at that point you probably have several flags pointing out that this is probably malicious.” (Auger, [53:08])

Jawjacking with TechNeck (Daniel Lowry) [58:48+]

Q&A, country wisdom, and fun stories in “hillbilly” style.
Highlights:

• Threat Intel (“CTI”) Tips – “Look at Mitre, see what threat groups attack your industry, start threat modeling, and use the diamond model of intrusion detection... that's better'n my Mama's jalapeno cornbread.” ([64:07])
• Alligator Tasting Notes – “It does not taste like chicken... more like catfish... deep fried into a golden perfection, washed down with a natty ice...” ([66:25])
• Backups Advice – “The answer to how often do you back up? Is always not often enough...'Two is one and one is none.' So take another backup of that backup.” ([80:00])
• On AI Regulation – “The old redneck in me just says, AI is the devil...if we regulate it, then we can't keep up... Dear Jesus, please just stop. AI, make it a really cool tool...” ([82:48])
• Storytime: Tire Change at Eddie’s Fast Nickel – Hilarious, relatable blue-collar tale about southern hospitality, ingenuity, and trading a case of Natty Ice for roadside help. ([71:35])
• Audience Interaction: Constant banter; humorous advice; playful references to southern culture and IT (“swamp out” = retire old hardware); praise for the community.

Notable Quotes

• “If you see unauthenticated remote code execution, your antenna should immediately go up. This is the worst.” – Dr. Auger ([19:50])
• “At the peak of Mirai botnet... 4 to 500,000 [infected devices]... Isuru is 4 million infected hosts, literally 10 times larger.” – Dr. Auger ([15:47])
• “Threat actors steal the data and sell it to each other. They're gonna get paid.” – Dr. Auger ([32:01])
• “The answer to how often do you back up? Is always not often enough... ‘Two is one and one is none.’ So take another backup of that backup.” – Daniel Lowry ([80:00])
• “AI is the devil...if we regulate it, then we can't keep up... If we don't, it could very well take us all to hell in a hand cart…” – Daniel Lowry ([82:48])

Timestamps for Major Segments

• DDoS Attack / Azuro Botnet: [12:41]–[18:12]
• React RCE Vulnerability: [18:53]–[24:45]
• Askul Ransomware Incident: [25:00]–[30:29]
• UK Ransom Payment Ban: [31:11]–[35:11]
• Community Meme Segment (“What's Your Meme Thursday”): [41:23]–[41:58]
• University of Phoenix Breach: [41:58]–[44:54]
• Android Scam Call Protections: [44:54]–[48:08]
• WordPress Plugin Exploit: [48:08]–[50:15]
• Microsoft LNK Patch: [50:15]–[55:09]
• Jawjacking with TechNeck (Q&A/Storytime): [58:48]–[89:37]

Overall Tone

• Auger: Personable, candid, educational, with a dash of humor and community spirit. Emphasizes supporting each other and practical action.
• Lowry (“TechNeck”): Playful, country-humor, relatable, making technical advice accessible and fun.

This episode is a must-listen for anyone in the cyber field seeking actionable news, real-world insights, community flavor, and a little lightheartedness to kick off their day.