The Maine Office of the Attorney General disclosed a data breach affecting Walmart Inc. on **February 26, 2024**, stemming from an external system compromise (hacking) detected on **January 25, 2024**. The incident exposed **Social Security numbers (SSNs)** of **204 individuals**, including at least one Maine resident. SSNs are highly sensitive personally identifiable information (PII), making affected individuals vulnerable to identity theft, financial fraud, and long-term reputational harm. While the breach was limited to a specific dataset, the exposure of such critical data elevates the risk of downstream criminal exploitation, including unauthorized credit applications, tax fraud, or targeted phishing attacks. Walmart has not publicly confirmed whether the breach originated from a third-party vendor or its own infrastructure, but the involvement of an external hacking event suggests a deliberate cyber intrusion rather than an accidental vulnerability. The scale of the breach, though not massive, carries significant implications due to the nature of the compromised data, which cannot be easily reset or replaced like passwords or payment cards.
TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/walmartglobaltech
"id": "wal014091825",
"linkid": "walmartglobaltech",
"type": "Breach",
"date": "12/2023",
"severity": "85",
"impact": "4",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with customers data leaks"{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': 204,
'industry': 'Retail',
'location': 'United States',
'name': 'Walmart Inc.',
'type': 'Corporation'}],
'attack_vector': 'External System Breach (Hacking)',
'data_breach': {'number_of_records_exposed': 204,
'personally_identifiable_information': True,
'sensitivity_of_data': 'High',
'type_of_data_compromised': ['Social Security numbers']},
'date_detected': '2024-01-25',
'date_publicly_disclosed': '2024-02-26',
'description': 'The Maine Office of the Attorney General reported a data '
'breach involving Walmart Inc. on February 26, 2024. The '
'breach, discovered on January 25, 2024, involved an external '
'system breach (hacking) that potentially exposed the Social '
'Security numbers of 204 individuals, including 1 resident of '
'Maine.',
'impact': {'data_compromised': ['Social Security numbers'],
'identity_theft_risk': 'High (Social Security numbers exposed)'},
'references': [{'date_accessed': '2024-02-26',
'source': 'Maine Office of the Attorney General'}],
'regulatory_compliance': {'regulatory_notifications': ['Maine Office of the '
'Attorney General']},
'response': {'communication_strategy': 'Public disclosure via Maine Office of '
'the Attorney General'},
'title': 'Walmart Data Breach (2024)',
'type': 'Data Breach'}