The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) has admitted to a massive data breach, Courtney Reagan reported in a breaking news segment on CNBC.
The admission from The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) of the compromise of customer information comes a week after the company reported that it may have possibly suffered a data breach, Reagan noted.
“[…] The company has now confirmed they have been the victim of a data breach,” Reagan said.
According to the CNBC correspondent, The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) is saying that customers that used a payment card in U.S. and Canadian stores from April onwards may have had their data compromised.
Though unspecified in the CNBC report, The New York Times, citing an unnamed person who is said to have been briefed on the investigation, said that possibly 60 million credit card numbers may have been stolen by the attackers.
The publication said this tops the Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) data breach last year in which 40 million credit card numbers and customer information were compromised. The Target Corporation breach is the largest to date.
CNBC, in a separate report, said that Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) spent $146 million to resolve the issues resulting from their data breach last year.
According to Forbes, The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) is offering free identity protection services to customers whose data may have been compromised as a move to alleviate the fallout of the crisis.
Meanwhile, Reagan said that Mexican stores and its website appear to have not been compromised. Furthermore, debit card pin numbers are also believed to be safe, she added.
The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) investors includes Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management which reported about 8.36 million shares in the home improvement store chain by the end of the second quarter of the year.
Disclosure: None
Suggested Articles:
Strategies Hedge Funds Use to Make Huge Returns
