This is your Red Alert: China's Daily Cyber Moves podcast.

Hey listeners, Ting here, your go-to cyber sleuth on all things China hacking chaos. Buckle up, because the past few days have been a red-alert frenzy with PRC hackers dropping digital bombs on US targets like it's their daily workout. Let's dive into the timeline that's got CISA and FBI scrambling.

It kicked off hard on December 5th when CISA dropped the bomb on BRICKSTORM, this sneaky backdoor from People's Republic of China state-sponsored crews. According to CISA's alert, BRICKSTORM is built for VMware vSphere and Windows setups, letting hackers burrow in for long-term persistence—think endless access to US companies' crown jewels. CrowdStrike calls the culprits Warp Panda, a slick new China-nexus adversary that's been pounding VMware vCenter at US firms all year, aligning perfectly with Beijing's intel wishlist. They deploy it stealthily, exfiltrating data without a peep.

Fast-forward to December 9th through 12th, and boom—React2Shell explodes. This CVE-2025-55182 beast, a perfect 10.0 CVSS remote code execution in React Server Components, got weaponized by two China-linked groups hours after public disclosure on December 3rd. The Hacker News reports widespread global scans, but the hottest hits? Taiwan, Xinjiang Uyghur regions, Vietnam, Japan, New Zealand—prime intel turf—and selective jabs at US .gov sites, academic labs, and critical infra like a national uranium import authority. CISA slammed it into the KEV catalog on December 12th, ordering federal patches by EOD today, with emergency mitigations: hunt unsafe deserialization, block RSC Flight protocol exploits.

Don't sleep on the July 2025 SharePoint saga still echoing. Microsoft's own probe pinned Linen Typhoon, Violet Typhoon, and Storm-2603— all Chinese state actors—exploiting unpatched flaws like CVE-2025-49704 in over 400 orgs, including the US National Nuclear Security Administration. Patches dropped July 8th and 21st, but Storm-2603 flipped to Warlock and Lockbit ransomware by July 18th. CISA's guidance? Patch now, enable AMSI in SharePoint, rotate ASP.NET keys, monitor shady POSTs to /_layouts/15/ToolPane.aspx, and yank public-facing EOL servers.

New patterns? These aren't smash-and-grabs; it's patient espionage with ransomware chasers. PRC crews love VMware persistence and zero-days via MAPP leaks—Microsoft cut Chinese firms like Qihoo 360 from early vuln intel after this mess.

Defensive playbook, listeners: Patch React2Shell to 19.0.1+, VMware yesterday, enable AMSI everywhere. Hunt BRICKSTORM IOCs via CISA's feed, rotate creds, segment vCenter. Firewalls on UDP C2 like UDPGangster variants, though that's Iranian MuddyWater—not PRC, but watch crossovers.

Escalation? If Taiwan tensions spike, expect Warp Panda to pivot nukes or power grids. Space race adds fuel—Pentagon warns China's satellite swarms could blind US ops pre-invasion. FY2026 defense bill pumps $73 mil to Cyber Command targeting China supply chains.

Stay frosty, patch fast, or become the next pivot point.

Thanks for tuning in, listeners—subscribe for more cyber spice! This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease.ai.

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI