American retail giant Home Depot maybe the latest company to fall victim to a massive online data breach.
Initial reports surfaced on cybersecurity journalist Brian Krebs’ website, about a new batch of stolen credit and debit cards that went on sale in the cybercrime underground on Tuesday morning. Various banks have confirmed that Home Depot stores may be the source of the breach.
In a statement issued to Reuters and other news agencies, Home Depot spokesperson Paula Drake said, “I can confirm we are looking into some unusual activity and we are working with our banking partners and law enforcement to investigate. Protecting our customers’ information is something we take extremely seriously, and we are aggressively gathering facts at this point while working to protect customers. If we confirm that a breach has occurred, we will make sure customers are notified immediately. Right now, for security reasons, it would be inappropriate for us to speculate further – but we will provide further information as soon as possible.”
US enterprises have been facing data breaches more frequently in the last few years, many rumoured to be the work of Russian and Ukrainian groups. It is believed that all Home Depot stores were affected in this hack, which is to say, around 2,200 stores in the US and nearly 300 in other countries, making the breach larger than the one that hit Target in 2013.
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(Image Credit: Mike Mozart)
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