Home Depot experienced a significant cybersecurity breach between April and September 2014, where attackers utilized a third-party vendor's login credentials to gain network access. They deployed malware on the company's Point of Sale (POS) systems to collect customer payment information. This cyber incident impacted 52 million customers, making it one of the largest breaches in retail history. The breach had far-reaching financial implications for Home Depot, with the company incurring $215 million in costs. This included a $17.5 million settlement to resolve claims across the country and pretax expenses of $198 million related to the breach, litigation by customers, card issuers, and financial institutions. The breach underscored the critical importance of securing third-party credentials and enhancing POS system security to prevent future incidents.
Source: https://arcticwolf.com/resources/blog/10-major-retail-industry-cyber-attacks/
TPRM report: https://scoringcyber.rankiteo.com/company/the-home-depot
"id": "the212042924",
"linkid": "the-home-depot",
"type": "Vulnerability",
"date": "09/2014",
"severity": "100",
"impact": "5",
"explanation": "Attack threatening the organization’s existence"{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': '52 million',
'industry': 'Retail',
'name': 'Home Depot',
'type': 'Retail'}],
'attack_vector': 'Malware on POS systems',
'data_breach': {'number_of_records_exposed': '52 million',
'sensitivity_of_data': 'High',
'type_of_data_compromised': 'Customer payment information'},
'date_detected': 'September 2014',
'description': 'Home Depot experienced a significant cybersecurity breach '
"where attackers utilized a third-party vendor's login "
'credentials to gain network access and deploy malware on the '
"company's Point of Sale (POS) systems to collect customer "
'payment information.',
'impact': {'data_compromised': 'Customer payment information',
'financial_loss': '$215 million',
'legal_liabilities': '$17.5 million settlement',
'payment_information_risk': 'High',
'systems_affected': 'POS systems'},
'initial_access_broker': {'entry_point': "Third-party vendor's login "
'credentials'},
'lessons_learned': 'Securing third-party credentials and enhancing POS system '
'security',
'motivation': 'Financial Gain',
'post_incident_analysis': {'corrective_actions': 'Enhance POS system security',
'root_causes': 'Weak third-party vendor '
'credentials'},
'regulatory_compliance': {'legal_actions': '$17.5 million settlement'},
'title': 'Home Depot Data Breach',
'type': 'Data Breach',
'vulnerability_exploited': "Third-party vendor's login credentials"}