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Home Depot

Home Depot investigates suspected hacker breach

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By John Glenday, Reporter

September 3, 2014 | 2 min read

Home Depot has become the latest firm to report a breach of its online security after hackers apparently broke into its online payment system, making off with a ‘massive’ number of stolen credit and debit card details.

The American DIY chain has responded by mounting an investigation into the security failure, which was first reported by KrebsOnSecurity.

It is suspected that the breach actually occurred as far back as April and may encompass all 2,200 of the chain’s stores, making it larger than a similar attack on fellow American retailer Target – which may have been perpetrated by the same team.

Paula Drake, a spokeswoman for Home Depot, said: “We’re looking into some unusual activity,” she said. “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.”

Home Depot is the latest in a long line of firms to be caught out by ineffective online security, notably Apple and JPMorgan Chase in recent days alone.

American retailers have become a honeypot for global hackers due to sluggishness in adopting chip and pin card technology, which makes it harder for criminals to abuse stolen card details.

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