‘Ongoing’ data breach forces Western Digital to shut down My Cloud service

Owners of Western Digital’s My Cloud network-attached storage (NAS) devices are unable to use the My Cloud service and access their devices due to a hacker attack. The attack was identified on March 26, according to a press release, and the company is “implementing proactive measures” to mitigate the attack, including the shutdown of the My Cloud service.

No timeline has been offered as to when My Cloud will be available again. “This investigation is in its early stages and Western Digital is coordinating with law enforcement authorities,” the company said. “Western Digital is actively working to restore impacted infrastructure and services,” and updates will be provided “as appropriate.”

As a result of the incident, an unauthorized third party gained access to “a number of” cloud systems. Western Digital believes the unauthorized party “obtained certain data from its systems” but has yet to understand the nature and scope of the data. The MyCloud app stores files from the My Cloud drive in a WD server and allows users to access them on mobile devices.

The latest entry in WD’s My Cloud Service Status website is dated April 3, 2023, and states that service is out for its My Cloud, My Cloud Home, My Cloud Home Duo, My Cloud OS5, SanDisk ibi, SanDisk Ixpand Wireless Charge products. The drives also link to Time Machine backups and Dropbox accounts, though those services are likely unaffected by the hack.

WD’s My Cloud drives are basically used as a server on a small network, most often in the home. They provide storage for users of the network who need to offload files from a computer or phone, and you can also use My Cloud for Time Machine backups of Macs.

The My Cloud Home is currently Macworld’s best overall pick in our guide for the best NAS drives for the Mac. We’ve noted the attack in our guide and will provide further updates as the situation progresses.