ABSTRACT
On September 18, 2014, the Home Depot said that about 56 million customer debit and credit cards were put at risk after hackers broke into the company's payment systems. The number of cardholders affected in the Home Depot attack marks what is likely the largest breach ever of a retailer's computer system, surpassing the 40 million cardholders who were affected when Target was hacked last fall. Home Depot has 1,977 stores in the United States and 180 in Canada. In addition to the previously disclosed payment card data, separate files containing approximately 53 million e-mail addresses were also taken during the breach. These files did not contain passwords, payment card information, or other sensitive personal information. The company is notifying affected customers in the United States and Canada. Customers should be on guard against phishing scams, which are designed to trick customers into providing personal information in response to phony e-mails.
