In March, Western Digital identified a network security incident in which both customer and company data were compromised. Western Digital notified those affected so they could take action to secure their private data as much as possible. Since this security breach, certain online functions have been halted. This week we’ve received an update (opens in new tab) on the situation along with plans to restore online activity.
According to Western Digital, an unknown third party accessed a Western Digital database containing customer information, including not only their names, addresses, and phone numbers but also billing details such as credit card information, although the numbers were encrypted. The customers impacted by this breach were contacted by Western Digital immediately so they could take action to help protect their private information.
A reader submitted to us a copy of the notification sent from Western Digital pertaining to the matter.
Within a few days of the incident, on April 2nd, Western Digital made a public announcement about the matter and initiated a response to rectify the situation. This involved a plan to completely shut down certain services from public internet access, including the online web store. Many services have since been restored, but the online store is still shut down and cannot be used to process orders.
Despite the ongoing effort to limit online activity, Western Digital says that physical factories have been operating the entire time to help deliver products. The only impact has been for online services. So while new orders currently cannot be placed, existing orders can still be processed and delivered.
Western Digital confirmed that My Cloud services were completely restored by April 13th. The online store, however, is still shut down. However, users can expect account access to be restored by the week of May 15th. In the meantime, online orders will not be processed to ensure customer data can be appropriately protected.
If you want to read more about the incident, its impact, and Western Digital’s response, you can find the full press release (opens in new tab) on the official Western Digital website.