To say 2014 hasn't been a good year for the security of some of the US's largest firms would be a colossal understatement. Home Depot have revealed today, further attacks have led to the e-mail addresses of some 53 million customers being stolen. This is on top of the 56 million debit and credit card details that were compromised earlier in the year. JP Morgan, Target, eBay and others have all suffered cyber attacks this year - It's not been a great year on the cyber security front. If there is a positive to be found in these unfortunate events: perhaps they will act as a catalyst to improve security across the board.
Home Depot revealed the latest hack of 53 million customer e-mail addresses was achieved through a vendor's username and password on Home Depot's own network. The DIY giant is adamant that only e-mail addresses were accessed this time, and no other personal of financial information was compromised in this instance. Of course that is little relief to those whose details were stolen in the last data breach in September.
Home Depot customers will undoubtedly now be the target of many a phishing scams. Even those who have updated their credit or debit card will need to remain vigilant against phishing, with hackers having their e-mail address and previous card details in their arsenal to create convincing scams.
No security solution will ever be perfect, it's a constant battle that evolves and needs to be continuously fought. An all to common thread throughout the hacks this year however, has been the vulnerability of username and password system. Just one account, if it's the wrong one, getting hacked can escalate so quickly into a major data breach and security issue. We believe in security solutions that eradicate the need for usernames and passwords. Find out more about Ensygnia's approach to security here.
By Matthew Taylor 7th November 2014
Related stories around the web
Home Depot reveals hackers stole 53m email addresses during data breach - Guardian
Home Depot hackers stole 53 million email addresses - BBC
Home Depot hackers also snagged 53 million customers email addresses
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