A short while ago Western Digital made an announcement warning all users of its My Book Live devices that there was a danger of data loss due to an exploit that attackers could use to wipe the device. 

Now the company has updated its site with guidance on the steps it's taking to help affected users. 

To be safe, the initial guidance is still to immediately disconnect your My Book Live or My Book Live Duo from the internet so it cannot be accessed remotely. 

If you've already suffered an attack, Western Digital has said that it will provide data recovery services this month. It has also noted that in some cases the attackers not only wiped user data but also installed a trojan (more on that here) so there may be wider problems you need to be aware of. 

Trade-in program

If you're a My Book Live user then you'll be pleased to hear that Western Digital is offering a trade-in program that will allow you to upgrade to a supported My Cloud device instead. 

The company has said details on this program and the data recovery service will follow shortly. 

Original story continues below

Western Digital has made an announcement warning that all owners of My Book Live devices should consider turning off their storage device to protect it from malicious threats. 

The company made a post on its community forums stating that it has determined there's an issue where some users are finding all their data being erased from the devices. 

The My Book Live NAS system had its last firmware update way back in 2015 but now a new issue has arisen which could potentially cause you to lose all your data if you're not careful:

"Western Digital has determined that some My Book Live devices are being compromised by malicious software. In some cases, this compromise has led to a factory reset that appears to erase all data on the device. The My Book Live device received its final firmware update in 2015. We understand that our customers’ data is very important. At this time, we recommend you disconnect your My Book Live from the Internet to protect your data on the device. We are actively investigating and we will provide updates to this thread when they are available."

Obviously not an ideal situation to be in but Western Digital is seemingly looking for solutions. In the meantime, it's simply recommended that you disconnect your drive from the internet so it cannot be remotely accessed.