Home Depot Data Hack - The construction-equipment retail giant finally confirmed in a statement on Monday that its payment system had been penetrated by hackers who stole an undisclosed quantity of customer information, probably including credit-card numbers.
The Home Depot data hack "could potentially impact any customer that has used their payment card at our U.S. And Canadian stores, from April forward," the company said in a statement obtained by TIME, while adding that there is no evidence that customers who shopped online or at stores located in Mexico have been affected.
According to ABC News, the Home Depot data hack could possibly be the biggest breach of any retailer's data so far. Although the company did confirm the hack, it did not reveal how many data and credit cards exactly were affected. Some experts believe however, that the total could reach up to 60 million - a figure far greater that the total number of cardholders victimized in the Target breach.
Brian Krebs first reported the Home Depot data hack last week on his website Krebs on Security claiming that a large new batch of stolen credit and debit cards went on sale in a cybercrime black market in the morning of Sept. 2.
Despite that there is no evidence that any credit card pin numbers were compromised, Krebs said "multiple financial institutions... are reporting a steep increase over the past few days in fraudulent ATM withdrawals on customer accounts."
The Home Depot data hack reportedly went undetected for several months until the company was alerted by banks and law enforcement agencies. The incident is said to have shaken customers' confidence at a time when privacy issues are steep. Furthermore, retailers are more pressured to increase security so that customers will once again feel safe while they are shopping. Home Depot "strongly" advices its customers to carefully "review" their payment card statements and "call" their bank or card issuer if they see any unusual and suspicious transactions.
No words yet on the identity of the Home Depot data hack culprits, but Krebs previously said that the same group of Russian hackers involved in the Target breach could possibly be responsible.
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