The retailer Home Depot has confirmed that customers’ payment data from all of its stores across the US and Canada has been hacked in what could be one of the largest data breaches ever.
Early last week it was reported that Krebs on Security had discovered millions of people’s credit card information had been hacked and obtained by a group or individual. The hacker or hackers have since begun selling this information online to the highest bidder.
Now according to the BBC, Home Depot has officially confirmed the enormous breach and offered an apology for the “frustration and anxiety” felt by its customers.
Outside of North America, the DIY chain has 287 stores in the rest of the world and this data breach is believed to have been even larger than the credit card information breach that struck another US retailer, Target, earlier this year.
While the aftermath of the breach has only affected those living in the US and Canada, Home Depot has said that any if any fraudulent charges are made on a hacked card, customers will be offered “free identity protection services, including credit monitoring, to any customer who has shopped at a Home Depot store in 2014, from April on”.
Home Depot store image via Shutterstock
