
QNAP® Systems, Inc. (QNAP) today issued a statement in response to recent reports (link 1 2) and media coverage indicating that the QSnatch malware is targeting QNAP NAS and attempting to obtain access. QNAP has updated its Malware Remover application for the QTS operating system on November 1, 2019 to detect and remove the malware from QNAP NAS and has also released an updated security advisory on November 2, 2019 to address the issue. Subsequently, QNAP has taken multiple actions (summarized as follows) to assist our users in defending data security:
Date | Event and reaction |
October 25, 2019 | Notifications from authorities of Finland and Germany |
November 1, 2019 | QNAP released the updated Malware Remover for detecting and removing QSnatch |
November 2, 2019 | QNAP published the updated security advisory for QSnatch |
November 7, 2019 | QNAP released a Press Release to inform the public |
November 2019 to January 2020 | QNAP updated the security advisory multiple times to keep the public informed |
February 2020 to June 2020 | QNAP emailed possibly affected users to recommend an immediate update |
July 31, 2020 | QNAP released another Press Release to reassure the public |
QNAP reaffirms that at this moment no malware variants are detected, and the number of affected devices shows no sign of another incident. Certain media reports claiming that the affected device count has increased from 7,000 to 62,000 since October 2019 are inaccurate due to a misinterpretation of reports from different authorities.
Users are urged to install the latest version of the Malware Remover app from the QTS App Center or by manual downloading from the QNAP website. QNAP also recommends a series of actions for enhancing QNAP NAS security. They’re also detailed in the security advisory.