Today, I received an e-mail from Home Depot letting me know that my e-mail address had been compromised in their security breach. However, this e-mail stated that the stolen information was limited to only e-mail addresses, and did not include any other personal information or payment information.
In addition to the payment card information of 56 million customers being stolen, the e-mail addresses of 53 million customers were also stolen. In similar fashion to the Target breach, the hackers obtained access to the system through the security credentials of a third party vendor. In this case, however, the hackers then had to perform a second exploit - and gain increased privileges for the stolen account.Once the hackers escalated their privileges, they were able to place their malware on the system, which targeted the self-check out lanes within Home Depot stores.
The company is warning users whose e-mail addresses were stolen to be aware of phishing scams being sent through e-mail using the compromised addresses.
According to one source, the hackers exploited a zero-day vulnerability within Microsoft Windows. Companies and individuals have increased their security, making it more difficult for hackers to gain access directly. However, the hackers have moved on to exploiting the supply chain - third-party vendors are used by many companies for many different reasons. Companies should thoroughly investigate the vendors that they choose to use, and require them to maintain minimum security requirements. They should also reach out to current vendors, and ask for information regarding their security practices.
Unfortunately, it is likely that hackers will continue to gain access to systems until all companies become diligent about their security practices.
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