Wester Digital warns customers that their data has been stolen by hackers

Western Digital (WD), a leading storage device manufacturer, has released a disturbing update for its customers. One month after admitting to being the victim of a data breach, company notified customers that their personal data was stolen by hackers.

The manufacturer issued a press release announcing that it detected a “network security incident” on March 26 in which criminals gained access to various company systems. In response, WD has proactively cut off its systems and services from the public internet as a precaution to protect its business operations.

The company confirmed that the attackers had obtained a copy of a database used for Western Digital’s online store, containing customer personal information such as names, emails, phone numbers, passwords and partial credit card numbers. However, this data is encrypted, which makes direct access to the information difficult.

email to customers

The company is diligently working to restore its affected systems and services, and most of them are now up and running. Western Digital also individually notified customers affected by the data breach.

In the email message, the company provided guidance on how customers can take precautionary measures, such as being mindful of requests for personal information, avoiding clicking on suspicious links, and checking spam settings on their email accounts.

ransomware attack

This isn’t the first time Western Digital has faced cybersecurity issues. In April, the company announced it was the target of a data breach, but did not disclose the extent of the incident at the time.

The hackers involved in the attack tried to extort the company by threatening to disclose the stolen data. The fact that the company did not comply with the requests despite the warnings caused the stolen data to be partially published.