From the article: > “On the 16th, Asus pushed a corrupted definition file for ASD, a built-in security daemon present in a wide range of their routers,” one pe

From the article: > “On the 16th, Asus pushed a corrupted definition file for ASD, a built-in security daemon present in a wide range of their routers,” one person wrote. “As routers automatically updated and fetched the corrupted definition file, they started running out of filesystem space and memory and crashing.” I'd say that resolves most of the overall mystery. It doesn't explain your specific question, but it certainly explains more than "nothing". --- I also think the answer to your specific question is relatively obvious, even if Asus didn't confirm it explicitly: Asus routers download new security definitions automatically, even when automatic updates are disabled. You're free to dislike that (I don't know how I feel about it), but it is clearly what's happening. It's not like this is an uncommon practice. Windows Defender also downloads new malware definitions even when automatic Windows updates are disabled (which is hard to do, but possible on Pro editions of Windows via e.g. setting registry keys).