Home Depot reported that 53 million email addresses of customers and clients were stolen over the course of five months — the largest data security breach for a retailer in history, analysts said.
The home improvement chain had previously reported that the hackers had stolen credit and debit card information on an estimated 56 million people. But adding to that now is the announcement of the email address thefts.
Home Depot isn’t saying how many customers suffered the theft of both their email address and payment card information, The Hill reported.
The company did give some details on how the hack went down, saying that data thieves accessed the “perimeter” of the company’s network via a third-party vendor’s stolen username and login, The Hill reported.
The hackers then changed the privileges associated with that account, after which they were then able to access the company’s inner network.
They were then able to install malware on the company’s self-checkout systems and steal customers’ information, The Hill reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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