Western Digital My Book NAS Owners Data Remotely Wiped

Western Digital NAS owners have been advised to disconnect their devices from the internet after reports of many of the devices being remotely wiped.

Western Digital My Book is a network-attached-storage device users can manage remotely via the WD My Live Book app even if the device is behind a firewall.

The WD My Book is a popular storage device for consumers and small business. The specific model affected is My Book Live

Responding to questions from industry media, Wester Digital said "[we have] determined that some My Book Live devices are being compromised by malicious software. In some cases, this compromise has led to a factory reset that appears to erase all data on the device."

They went on to highlight the devices had their final firmware update in 2015 and recommended disconnecting from the internet to protect data while awaiting for further updates on the issue.

With limited information and no specifics from the company it remains to be seen what is causing the issue. Wester Digital seem to hint that customer accounts could have been compromised.

This situation highlights the importance of an effective backup strategy showing you cannot solely rely on NAS as a means of backup for critical data.