WD My Book NAS devices are being remotely wiped clean worldwide...

[vienna]

I don't use My Book drives, but I thought some on the boards here might, so here's a heads up on a troubling new development...


WD My Book NAS devices are being remotely wiped clean worldwide --

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/wd-my-book-nas-devices-are-being-remotely-wiped-clean-worldwide/


One of my biggest peeves about some hardware manufacturers is how they will often, in their desire to 'coerce' users into buying the company's newest (and more often than not rather more expensive) version on of a product, simply ignore, or willfully refuse, the issuing of firmware updates for a device or component you already own; it could be understandable if the updates were for features or capabilities to be found in a company's newer models, but firmware updates for essential, vital security issues should be a no-brainer for the manufacturers; WD may have seriously shot themselves in the foot by ignoring devices that were, in this case, a few years old; if I were the owner of a bricked My Book, the name Seagate , among others, might look mighty tempting right now...




<O>

[Buddahaid]

In the medical industry the mfg's simply send EOL letters stating that they will no longer support a device after a certain date and move on. You have to expect devices to become obsolete at some point.

[3catcircus]

I don't use My Book drives, but I thought some on the boards here might, so here's a heads up on a troubling new development...


WD My Book NAS devices are being remotely wiped clean worldwide --

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/wd-my-book-nas-devices-are-being-remotely-wiped-clean-worldwide/


One of my biggest peeves about some hardware manufacturers is how they will often, in their desire to 'coerce' users into buying the company's newest (and more often than not rather more expensive) version on of a product, simply ignore, or willfully refuse, the issuing of firmware updates for a device or component you already own; it could be understandable if the updates were for features or capabilities to be found in a company's newer models, but firmware updates for essential, vital security issues should be a no-brainer for the manufacturers; WD may have seriously shot themselves in the foot by ignoring devices that were, in this case, a few years old; if I were the owner of a bricked My Book, the name Seagate , among others, might look mighty tempting right now...




<O>

I book a mybook about 10 years ago - it was touted as to it's security because of the built-in encryption. Just a simple password and my data is secure! Great! Until the enclosure fails. Had to buy a while new identical one and swap the enclosure to recover. It wasn't even that I had sensitive info like tax forms or my social security number - stuff that would warrant being encrypted - it was the novelty of being able to encrypt it...

[Skybird]

Too bad if you have your bitcoin encryption stored on one of these.

I say it again and again. Tehcnology and electronics do not mean something is safe. And while the access may be more comfortable (as long as it works) and offer luxurious additonal functions like auto-sorting and such, the long-term storing of data is far more work- and resource-intensive than oridnary paper archived.
Paper of right and good qulity and stored in a correct place and under good conditions, can last many centuries, even over a millenium. Digital archives need to be replaced due to technology outdating already after a few handful of years. A few decades at best. Because you lose the hardware standards to read all that data's storage formats.

Tech and digitalis is hectic, short-breathed and fast-paced. Long term storage? Paper - every single time. And safer it is anyway.


Also under ecological arguments all this high tech circus in consumer goods is questionable. A green planet on lithium batteries? Forget it. All that are intellectual self-mutilations of hardware and luxury junkies not wanting to let go their toys. They blink and they beep, and they allow to manipulate othe rpeople and keep in contorl of them. Progress!