If you use an older Western Digital MyCloud network hard drive in your home as a simple NAS, then keep on reading carefully.
Western Digital My Cloud NAS’s caused quite a stir past summer. Hackers wiped out these network hard drives on a large scale, remotely. The firmware flaw that made this possible had been circulating for years. It’s still unclear if and how often hackers had unnoticed access to these drives. For Western Digital, the debacle is most probably the reason why they urgently advise users of the affected drives to stop using them. As of April next year, support and updates will also be ending. More specific, Western Digital is targetting MyCloud drives that run on My Cloud OS 3 or earlier. If you have such a drive, Western Digital recommends you to transfer your data to another device and stop using the drive. Optionally, you can also choose to disable remote access and set a very strong password. But given the strange security leaks, it seems more advisable not to have a MyCloud drive constantly connected to your (home) network. And thus, indeed simply stop using it.
Opt for a ‘real’ NAS
If you own a Western Digital MyCloud that has not been used that much, it might be interesting to remove and repurpose the hard drive itself. If you’re planning on buying a MyCloud drive, pay attention, especially in case of discounts. Carefully check which firmware version it runs to avoid a soon unsupported and leaky device. Also keep in mind that version 5 of the MyCloud firmware is supported until only 2026. In general, it is better to buy a “real” NAS enclosure from a specialized brand such as Synology or QNAP. Especially the single-bay models for home or light business use are very affordable. The operating system that runs on it is much more versatile and is updated regularly and supported for many years.