Western Digital adds post-quantum security to drives

Western Digital has introduced hard drives with integrated post-quantum cryptography, with the new Ultrastar drives now being qualified by hyperscale customers.

The product uses quantum-resistant algorithms approved by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology to protect firmware integrity and device-level trust. Western Digital framed the move as a response to concerns that data stored for years could become vulnerable as quantum computing advances.

The launch centres on the latest high-capacity Ultrastar UltraSMR enterprise drives, including the Ultrastar DC HC6100. Rather than focusing on data-at-rest encryption, the design is intended to protect the device trust chain from manufacturing through field service.

That includes secure boot, firmware protection and key management. The implementation uses ML-DSA-87, listed under NIST FIPS 204, for code signing, alongside dual-signing with RSA-3072 so newer and established cryptographic methods can operate together.

Quantum risk

Storage systems often remain in operation for five years or more, potentially exposing them to a period in which quantum computers become capable of breaking current cryptographic protections. Western Digital also highlighted the risk of so-called harvest now, decrypt later attacks, in which encrypted or signed material is collected today and targeted once stronger decryption tools become available.

Another concern is forged firmware signatures. If an attacker could imitate a trusted signature on a firmware update, malicious code could be installed while appearing legitimate, undermining the security of the drive itself.

Western Digital has also put in place public key infrastructure and hardware security module workflows to support key issuance, rotation and lifecycle management for the new drives. Rollback safeguards are designed to allow deployment across mixed fleets without disrupting existing operations.

The announcement makes the storage manufacturer one of the first hardware suppliers to bring post-quantum cryptography to a production storage product aimed at large-scale infrastructure. The early qualification process with hyperscale customers suggests large cloud and AI infrastructure operators are already testing how such protections fit into existing environments.

AI data growth

Western Digital linked the new hard drives to the rapid expansion of AI data systems, which generate and retain large volumes of information across model training, inference and ongoing user interaction. In that context, long-term storage security becomes more important because the value of those datasets can persist long after they are created.

Dr Xiaodong Che, chief technology officer and senior vice president at WD, said the shift in security architecture is becoming necessary as data volumes rise and storage lifecycles remain long.

"As AI data compounds and becomes more valuable and long-lived, securing it for the future is no longer optional. Quantum computing represents one of the most significant technology transitions of our time, and it is advancing faster than many organisations anticipate. The security architectures that have protected enterprise storage for more than a decade will need to evolve," said Dr Xiaodong (Carl) Che, chief technology officer and senior vice president at WD.

He said Western Digital sees post-quantum cryptography as a way to address threats that already exist in planning terms, even if the underlying quantum systems are not yet widely available for practical attacks.

"Integrating post-quantum cryptography into our Ultrastar enterprise-class drives is part of our commitment to helping customers stay ahead of threats that are already present in the form of HNDL attacks. By aligning with NIST standards and CNSA 2.0 today, we are helping enterprises build a clear, low-friction path to quantum-safe storage infrastructure," said Che.

The reference to CNSA 2.0 links the launch to the US National Security Agency's Commercial National Security Algorithm Suite guidance, which is shaping migration planning for systems expected to need longer-term cryptographic protection. By pairing that alignment with NIST standards, Western Digital is signalling that the drives are intended for organisations preparing infrastructure refresh cycles well before quantum attacks become practical.

The move also reflects a broader shift in the storage market, where security controls are increasingly being built into hardware rather than added later through software or operational processes. In Western Digital's case, the emphasis is on establishing device trust at the drive level, particularly for operators running large fleets of enterprise storage in cloud and AI environments.

Western Digital expects to extend post-quantum cryptography support to other enterprise hard drive lines over time.