User has been Auto deleted - all data lost

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Mostdom wrote:

These are private localally stored devices which Netgear or anyone else should not be able to access and delete, especially ON MASS!

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This doesn't seem like what happened. I understand it doesn't make much difference to your data in the end, but I still think it's important to understand what happened. While the system didn't behave as one would expect, to say the least, there is no violation of privacy here.

ReadyCLOUD servers were down, so it sure isn't them that went to your NAS to delete the data. From the posts here, it looks like the ReadyCLOUD service running on the NAS couldn't communicate with ReadyCLOUD servers and took the decision to disable the connection AND to UNJOIN from the ReadyCLOUD account. This is the problem, it UNJOINED from the master ReadyCLOUD account, which should NOT happen. Unfortunately, when a NAS is unjoined from the master ReadyCLOUD account, the ReadyCLOUD users are deleted along with their home folders.

So NETGEAR didn't access your NAS and deleted the home folders, it's a piece of code running on your NAS that did it.

BTW, just to be clear, I'm no longer employed by NETGEAR and I'm in no way trying to protect them. I'm actually trying to help you and others, as much as I can.

jack0lantach. I had noticed your signature and appreaciate your support here as I think do others and my comments have been in no way aimed at you. I felt that Netgear had kinda left you holding the stick here.

Weather the failure has allowed access or caused the system to react incorrectly it still should not have happened.

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Mostdom wrote:

 

Weather the failure has allowed access or caused the system to react incorrectly it still should not have happened.

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I agree 100% with that. It's bad and it shouldn't have happened.

I was simply trying to explain that there was, to my understanding of the symptoms, no remote action taken on your NAS and/or violation of privacy.

Just like you, I'm waiting for further communication from NETGEAR.

I appreaciate the clarification. It does also open up the suggestion that if this could be casued by a simple disconnect to the server that someone could also do this maliciously. Maybe through a bot attack, virus, or a disgruntled ex employee ;) all they would need to do is fake a disconnect and the system does then rest. But what kind of internal code have netgear created that would then go an effectivley delete or lose the contents of the users folder?

To that I can't reply because I don't know. But this is what I know: If you unregister a NAS from ReadyCLOUD (not just turn off, click "Leave" button), it deletes the ReadyCLOUD home folders: https://i.imgur.com/7oAANen.png

For an attack to fake a disconnect, I'd presume access to the NAS or maybe the core network would be necessary. So if an attacker already gained access to that, he wouldn't need to bother trying to figure out how ReadyCLOUD works in order to do damage ;)

[tinfoil hat off]

oh I c. Not having wanted to delete any of my accounts I'd forgotten about a prompt to delete content, but this fault has somehow bypassed that. I am still saying our determined wouldbe attacker/exemployee is plauseable.

[tinfoil hat on]

HI,

Today again Cloud users ware delete automatically ????
In the admin window again was readycloud off?
What's happening?

br,

Tomi

I'm away at the moment with limited access to the internet but engineering might have found a way to recover the data.

Please don't run any volume maintenance or make any changes to you volume if possible as these will reduce the chances of partially/fully successful data recovery. If you must access your data still on there for now I would boot to volume read-only mode.

If you can connect a USB HDD (with enough space to hold the deleted data) to your NAS and boot your NAS to tech support mode (a boot menu option), and PM me the 5-digit number you then get and your agreement to http://kb.netgear.com/20932/NETGEAR-Remote-Access-Policy I'll take a look when I'm back.

That's good news. I turned off the NAS for now, will prepare a USB HDD and go the "tech support" boot menu option way soon.

Doing some online research on btrfs I've found out that walking back some generations may reveal a tree structure that might still contain the deleted home folders. Apart from some log files I doubt that much data has been written since then and that most if not all data remains physically present.

Learning from the trouble I now know that I shouldn't rely on cloud users' home folders anymore.