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Home Depot: Hackers also stole 53M email addresses
http://apnews.myway.com//article/20141107/us-home-depot-data-breach-de2e95f818.html
Nov 6, 10:31 PM (ET)
By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO and SARAH SKIDMORE SELL
NEW YORK (AP) — Hackers stole 53 million email addresses in addition to customers' card data, Home Depot said Thursday.
The nation's largest home improvement chain had disclosed the massive, months-long breach of 56 million debit and credit cards in September.
Home Depot's breach surpassed Target's pre-Christmas 2013 data theft, which compromised 40 million credit and debit cards and hurt sales and profits. Since late last year, Michaels, SuperValu and Neiman Marcus have been among a string of retailers that have also reported breaches, though they were smaller.
While shoppers appear to have grown numb to the hacks, the breaches have forcing changes in retailing. Target's breach pushed banks, retailers and card companies to increase security by speeding the adoption of microchips in U.S. credit and debit cards, which supporters say are more secure. Home Depot reiterated Thursday that it will be activating chip-enabled checkout terminals at all of its U.S. stores by the end of the year.
The file containing the email addresses did not contain passwords or other sensitive personal information, according to Home Depot. However, it said that customers should be on guard against phishing scams. Phishing attacks are sent through texts or emails and try to trap you into disclosing personal information.
The company is notifying affected customers in the U.S. and Canada.
Home Depot also explained how the hackers got into its system. It said that the hackers initially accessed its network in April with a third-party vendor's username and password. Home Depot said hackers stole information through malware installed on self-checkout systems in the U.S. and Canada. That's similar to what happened at Target where thieves hacked into the password of a third-party supplier.
Home Depot said that its investigation with law enforcement and efforts to further enhance its security measures are ongoing.
On Thursday it confirmed its sales growth estimate for the year and said it still expects annual profit of $4.54 per share. But unclear is how much Home Depot's future profits will be affected.
Home Depot's outlook for its fiscal 2014 year includes estimates for the cost to investigate the data breach, providing credit monitoring services to its customers, increasing call center staffing and paying for legal and professional services. However, it doesn't include any potential losses related to the breach.
Home Depot is expected to announce fiscal third-quarter results on Nov. 18.
"It's scary. The numbers are too big to comprehend," said John Kindervag, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research. "But what are you going to do about it?" He noted that Home Depot is lucky that there are only a few big players in the home improvement arena and so there aren't a lot of other choices to shop.
The company's stock rose 5 cents to $97.34 in extended trading Thursday. Shares have gained 18 percent in 2014.
Nov 6, 10:31 PM (ET)
By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO and SARAH SKIDMORE SELL
NEW YORK (AP) — Hackers stole 53 million email addresses in addition to customers' card data, Home Depot said Thursday.
The nation's largest home improvement chain had disclosed the massive, months-long breach of 56 million debit and credit cards in September.
Home Depot's breach surpassed Target's pre-Christmas 2013 data theft, which compromised 40 million credit and debit cards and hurt sales and profits. Since late last year, Michaels, SuperValu and Neiman Marcus have been among a string of retailers that have also reported breaches, though they were smaller.
While shoppers appear to have grown numb to the hacks, the breaches have forcing changes in retailing. Target's breach pushed banks, retailers and card companies to increase security by speeding the adoption of microchips in U.S. credit and debit cards, which supporters say are more secure. Home Depot reiterated Thursday that it will be activating chip-enabled checkout terminals at all of its U.S. stores by the end of the year.
The file containing the email addresses did not contain passwords or other sensitive personal information, according to Home Depot. However, it said that customers should be on guard against phishing scams. Phishing attacks are sent through texts or emails and try to trap you into disclosing personal information.
The company is notifying affected customers in the U.S. and Canada.
Home Depot also explained how the hackers got into its system. It said that the hackers initially accessed its network in April with a third-party vendor's username and password. Home Depot said hackers stole information through malware installed on self-checkout systems in the U.S. and Canada. That's similar to what happened at Target where thieves hacked into the password of a third-party supplier.
Home Depot said that its investigation with law enforcement and efforts to further enhance its security measures are ongoing.
On Thursday it confirmed its sales growth estimate for the year and said it still expects annual profit of $4.54 per share. But unclear is how much Home Depot's future profits will be affected.
Home Depot's outlook for its fiscal 2014 year includes estimates for the cost to investigate the data breach, providing credit monitoring services to its customers, increasing call center staffing and paying for legal and professional services. However, it doesn't include any potential losses related to the breach.
Home Depot is expected to announce fiscal third-quarter results on Nov. 18.
"It's scary. The numbers are too big to comprehend," said John Kindervag, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research. "But what are you going to do about it?" He noted that Home Depot is lucky that there are only a few big players in the home improvement arena and so there aren't a lot of other choices to shop.
The company's stock rose 5 cents to $97.34 in extended trading Thursday. Shares have gained 18 percent in 2014.
I'm pretty old school... I still keep my paper receipts in a manilla file folder. If I'm working under a strict budget I'll make an Excel spreadsheet, something like a checkbook register, listing the total amount I have to spend and each time I spend money against that amount, I'll enter it in the spreadsheet and subtract it from the balance, like writing a check... when I have a zero balance, the project better be done, or it goes on hold until I get some more money...
If you aren't getting the strange e-mails anymore, maybe you won't and there won't be any advantage to having your e-mail address removed. It's always a hard decision to make.
Convenience doesn't come without a price.
If you aren't getting the strange e-mails anymore, maybe you won't and there won't be any advantage to having your e-mail address removed. It's always a hard decision to make.
Convenience doesn't come without a price.
I didn’t think about that. I am doing some remodeling to my house and am on a tight budget. I have the receipts emailed to me so I don’t have to scan them to put them in the folder. The next time I go to HD, I’m going to have them remove my email address. Thanks.
I never have my receipts from HD e-mailed to me, so I haven't had any issues. IMO, it's best to take your receipt from the store at the time of the purchase and keep your e-mail address and other contact information private whenever possible.
Thank you for letting me know.
Yesterday I saw where someone has hacked into even more important site and placed a trogan horse in the software that runs much of the critical U.S. infrastructure.
DHS released a bulletin on the "BlackEnergy" malware
Yesterday I saw where someone has hacked into even more important site and placed a trogan horse in the software that runs much of the critical U.S. infrastructure.
DHS released a bulletin on the "BlackEnergy" malware
Here is a copy of the Email I got from Home Depot. I started getting about 3 emails a day from either suspicious looking senders or from senders I didn’t recognize. I just deleted them and didn’t open. They have since stopped.
Dear Valued Customer,
The Home Depot has discovered that a file containing your email address may have been taken during the payment card breach we announced in September. The file contained email addresses, but it did not contain passwords, payment card information, or other sensitive personal information. We apologize for this incident and for the inconvenience and frustration this may cause you.
In all likelihood this event will not impact you, but we recommend that you be on the alert for phony emails requesting personal or sensitive information. If you have any questions or would like additional information on how to protect yourself from email scams, please visit our website or call 1-800-HOMEDEPOT.
Again, we apologize for the frustration and inconvenience this incident may have caused. Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
The Home Depot
Dear Valued Customer,
The Home Depot has discovered that a file containing your email address may have been taken during the payment card breach we announced in September. The file contained email addresses, but it did not contain passwords, payment card information, or other sensitive personal information. We apologize for this incident and for the inconvenience and frustration this may cause you.
In all likelihood this event will not impact you, but we recommend that you be on the alert for phony emails requesting personal or sensitive information. If you have any questions or would like additional information on how to protect yourself from email scams, please visit our website or call 1-800-HOMEDEPOT.
Again, we apologize for the frustration and inconvenience this incident may have caused. Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
The Home Depot
Thank you for this information. I missed this. Just saw the Post Office was hacked but missed Home Depot.
I appreciate and will be more careful with my emails after reading this.
Dee
I appreciate and will be more careful with my emails after reading this.
Dee
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