--- title: "Threat Actors Target Western Digital, Cripple Its My Cloud Service | Phish Protection" description: "Threat Actors Target Western Digital, Cripple Its My Cloud Service: Undoubtedly, famous public cloud services providers like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and." image: "https://phishprotection.com/og/blog/threat-actors-target-western-digital-cripple-its-my-cloud-service.png" canonical: "https://phishprotection.com/blog/threat-actors-target-western-digital-cripple-its-my-cloud-service/" --- Quick Answer Undoubtedly, famous public cloud services providers like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Western Digital offer a more \*\*secure cloud environment\*\* than on-premise servers. But what if the \[hackers\](/phishing/hackers-now-going-after-software-tools-which-help-workers-collaborate) target them, locking you out and hampering productivity? Follow this article to learn about the latest attack on Western Digital. Share [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fthreat-actors-target-western-digital-cripple-its-my-cloud-service%2F "Share on LinkedIn") [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Threat%20Actors%20Target%20Western%20Digital%2C%20Cripple%20Its%20My%20Cloud%20Service&url=https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fthreat-actors-target-western-digital-cripple-its-my-cloud-service%2F "Share on X/Twitter") [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fthreat-actors-target-western-digital-cripple-its-my-cloud-service%2F "Share on Facebook") [ ](https://reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fthreat-actors-target-western-digital-cripple-its-my-cloud-service%2F&title=Threat%20Actors%20Target%20Western%20Digital%2C%20Cripple%20Its%20My%20Cloud%20Service "Share on Reddit") [ ](mailto:?subject=Threat%20Actors%20Target%20Western%20Digital%2C%20Cripple%20Its%20My%20Cloud%20Service&body=Check out this article: https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fthreat-actors-target-western-digital-cripple-its-my-cloud-service%2F "Share via Email") ![Phish Protection blog post image](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/2023/04/what-is-phishing-4597.jpg) Undoubtedly, famous public cloud services providers like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Western Digital offer a more **secure cloud environment** than on-premise servers. But what if the [hackers](/phishing/hackers-now-going-after-software-tools-which-help-workers-collaborate) target them, locking you out and hampering productivity? Follow this article to learn about the latest attack on Western Digital. Western Digital recently announced today that an **unauthorized** party breached its network, gaining access to its multiple company systems. After discovering the breach, the firm launched an investigation into the incident (which is in the early stages) and informed the **law enforcement** authorities. The company gathered evidence suggesting that the intruder accessed some of the data. However, we do not know if the stolen data belongs to **Western Digital’s customers**, employees, or others. Furthermore, it is unclear what type of data the attackers stole and if they used it for [identity theft](https://patch.com/connecticut/greenwich/man-charged-identity-theft-forgery-greenwich-police-0). ### Users Unable To Login, Incident Impacts Western Digital’s Reputation ![What is phishing](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/2023/04/what-is-phishing-4597.jpg) While Western Digital’s primary business is providing customers with a storage device to store data locally, its **My Cloud service** enables them to back it up on a [cloud server](https://informationsecuritybuzz.com/tequivity-cloud-server-compromise-leads-to-uber-breached-experts-reacted/) and access the contents remotely. According to posts on Western Digital’s customer support pages, **users must authenticate themselves** on MyCloud.com to access their My Cloud data. After the incident, home.mycloud.com gave a 503 error , locking out many of its users. ### Not The First Time Western Digital Has Run Into Troubled Waters Western Digital sells many home NAS drives and systems, and the current outage has rendered them **inaccessible** from outside their home network. The drives support [Samba (SMB)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samba%5F%28software%29) connectivity and appear as standard network drives on macOS, Windows, and Linux, but users need to log in to **WD’s online platform** for external access. It is not the first time Western Digital has faced security problems, although the earlier ones were **security vulnerabilities** in their [NAS](https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/nas/) drives, not a problem with online infrastructure. In 2017, hackers gained **unrestricted root access** to a[My Cloud drive](https://www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/de/security/news/vulnerabilities-and-exploits/vulnerabilities-and-a-backdoor-plague-western-digital-my-cloud-nas-devices)through an admin backdoor (username “mydlinkBRionyg” and password “abc12345cba”). Western Digital quickly fixed it, but security experts discovered another[remote access vulnerability](https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/2/22561140/wd-cloud-os-3-security-flaw-update-patch-disconnect)in 2021, and **WD didn’t fix** all of the impacted drives. Around the same time, hackers **remotely deleted** the owners’ data of the[My Book Live drive](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/06/mass-data-wipe-in-my-book-devices-prompts-warning-from-western-digital/), even if they had turned off the cloud features. ### Ways To Improve Cloud Security As more organizations are migrating their data and applications to the Cloud, they need to shift their focus toward protecting sensitive business information and [optimizing cloud costs](https://cast.ai/cloud-cost-optimization/). Hence, if they want to maintain customers’ trust and avoid the costs of a [data breach](/phishing/data-breaches-how-they-impact-small-businesses) (which can reach millions of dollars), preventing leaks and data theft is **critical**. Following are the steps one can take to improve their cloud security : ![Phishing attack prevention](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/2023/04/phishing-attack-prevention-4697.jpg) 1. **Deploy Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)**: Using traditional username and password combinations is insufficient to protect users from hackers in today’s evolving threat landscape. [Stolen credentials](https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/fbi-seizes-stolen-credentials-market-genesis-in-operation-cookie-monster/) are one of the **main ways** [cybercriminals](/blog/cybercriminals-are-duping-millions-of-accounts-in-the-latest-facebook-phishing-campaign/) gain access to your online business applications and data. Hence, you **must protect** your cloud users with [multi-factor authentication (MFA)](https://www.onelogin.com/learn/what-is-mfa) and ensure only authorized personnel log in to the cloud apps and access sensitive data in your on- or off-premise environment. 1. **Manage User Access**: Most employees don’t require access to all applications, every file, or every piece of information in your cloud infrastructure. Therefore, setting **adequate authorization levels** with an \[IAM\](.) plan will ensure that each employee only views the applications or data necessary for them to do their job. Assigning access control **will prevent** your employees from accidentally editing information and protect you from hackers who manage to steal an employee’s credentials. ### Final Words The above incident **highlights** the importance of [cloud security](https://virtual-strategy.com/2023/04/10/north-america-cloud-security-market-is-booming-at-a-cagr-of-16-5-by-2028/) for businesses in today’s advanced threat landscape. How they approach cloud security differs for every business and can depend on several variables. Apart from the above-mentioned security measures, businesses can go through the[National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST’s)](https://www.nist.gov/itl/smallbusinesscyber/guidance-topic/cloud-security)list of best practices to establish a **sustainable and secure** cloud computing framework. It mentions the necessary steps for every enterprise to self-assess their security [preparedness](https://www.bitsight.com/blog/what-cyber-preparedness-and-how-do-you-improve-it#:~:text=Cyber%20preparedness%20is%20the%20practice,shouldered%20by%20the%20security%20team.) and apply appropriate preventative [phishing protection](/) solutions to their systems. _These principles are designed on the **NIST’s five pillars**: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover._ ## Topics [ Phishing ](/tags/phishing/) ![Brad Slavin](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/authors/brad-slavin.jpg) [ Brad Slavin ](/authors/brad-slavin/) General Manager Founder and General Manager of DuoCircle. Product strategy and commercial lead across DuoCircle's 2,000+ customer base. [LinkedIn Profile →](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradslavin) ## Protect your inbox from phishing attacks Real-time email security with 60-day free trial. No credit card required. [Start Free Trial](https://portal.duocircle.com/cart.php?a=add&pid=101&brand=phishprotection) [View Pricing](/pricing/) ## Related Articles [ Foundational 5m 0ktapus, Okta Breach Helps Attackers Launch Sophisticated Supply Chain Attacks Sep 5, 2022 ](/blog/0ktapus-okta-breach-helps-attackers-launch-sophisticated-supply-chain-attacks/)[ Foundational 4m 13 Spear Phishing Attacks Examples To Justify Investment For Phishing Prevention Solutions In Your Organization Aug 1, 2019 ](/blog/13-spear-phishing-attacks-examples-to-justify-investment-for-phishing-prevention-solutions-in-your-organization/)[ Foundational 4m All 14 centers of Kettering Health were affected by a massive ransomware attack, Major outage in the Ohio medical center May 23, 2025 ](/blog/14-centers-of-kettering-health-were-affected-by-massive-ransomware-attack-in-ohio-medical-center/)[ Foundational 4m 2021 Phishing Trends You Need To Be Wary Of Aug 2, 2021 ](/blog/2021-phishing-trends-to-be-wary-of/) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://phishprotection.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://phishprotection.com/images/phishprotection-logo.png"},"description":"Advanced phishing protection and email security for businesses. 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