On March 26th, Western Digital identified a critical network security breach (opens in new tab) It affected both customer and corporate data. Western Digital promptly notified affected users to mitigate the effects of the attack so they can take preventative measures as soon as possible to protect their personal information. Additionally, the company immediately shut down its online services to prevent further data loss. This included shutting down the online web store.
On May 5th, Western Digital press release (opens in new tab) Update your issue details. In an official statement, Western Digital confirmed the scale of the cyberattack, later corroborated by CEO David Geckeler. Western Digital confirmed in its earnings call on May 8 that it still has plans to reopen its stores the week of May 15. This means that online web stores have been down for almost six weeks since his March cyberattack.
Ann SEC filing (opens in new tab) A similar incident occurred on May 5, further confirming the depth of cyberattacks. In addition to stealing customer details such as names, addresses, and encrypted credit card numbers stored on file, some private company data was also compromised. More specifically, a particular digital certificate was obtained by hackers. Western Digital confirms that compromised certificates can be revoked if necessary.
This cyberattack was not without its economic impact. Western Digital released FY2019 Third Quarter Financial Results (opens in new tab) A 2023 report showing the impact of the latest events on financial returns. According to the report, revenue is down 10% quarter-on-quarter, but some of that could be attributed to the global storage and component recession rather than hacks. It is unclear how long it will take to fully restore the former functionality of online systems and undo the effects of the data breach.
We’ll find out next week if WD’s store is actually back online. We hope that the security holes have been closed completely, but we will keep you updated as new information becomes available.
