The Home Depot said yesterday it was investigating a report that it may be the source of a massive credit and debit card breach. In a statement given to independent security reporter Brian Krebs, the retailer said that it was working with banks and law enforcement to investigate the claim.
“I can confirm we are looking into some unusual activity and we are working with our banking partners and law enforcement to investigate,” said The Home Depot spokesperson Paula Drake to Krebs, reading from a prepared statement. “Protecting our customers’ information is something we take extremely seriously, and 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. Right now, for security reasons, it would be inappropriate for us to speculate further—but we will provide further information as soon as possible.”
The possible breach, according to Krebs, could have begun as early as April or May, which would make it "many times larger" than last December's Target credit card theft that affected nearly 40 million customers. That breach reportedly began in November but was discovered in December.
