Tag Archives: Brian Krebs

Home Depot Confirm Data Breach

September 10, 2014 Sam Richardson

American retailer Home Depot has confirmed that they have suffered a data breach after conducting an investigation.

Even though the overall number of those affected is yet unknown, it is being reported that the data breach could be one of the largest ever seen.

Home Depot chairman Frank Blake has said that they owe it to their customers to inform them that a data breach has occurred.

Blake stated, “We owe it to our customers to alert them that we now have enough evidence to confirm that a breach has indeed occurred. It is important to emphasise that no customers will be responsible for fraudulent charges to their accounts.”

As previously reported, Home Depot had confirmed that they were conducting an investigation after Brian Krebs reported on his website that several banks believe that Home Depot is the source of the data breach which has exposed credit and debit card information.

Krebs has also confirmed that some of the stolen details have already emerged for sale on Rescator which will allow fraudsters to counterfeit cards and possibly personal identities.

Krebs stated, “The zip code data is important because it allows the bad guys to quickly and more accurately locate the social security number and data or birth of cardholders using criminal services in the underground that sell this information.”

Home Depot Investigate Possible Data Breach

September 4, 2014 Stewart Parkin

American retailer Home Depot has confirmed that they are currently investigating a possible data breach which may have resulted in customer credit and debit card information being compromised.

Home Depot is currently working with the police to see if they have suffered a data breach after security expert Brian Krebs reported that hackers are selling details of stolen credit and debit cards used at the retailer.

Paula Drake who is a spokeswoman for Home Depot has confirmed that that they are currently investigating a possible data breach and that they will notify customers immediately if the investigation concludes that data has been compromised.

Drake stated, “Protecting our customers’ information is something we take extremely seriously, and we are aggressively gathering facts at this point while working to protect customers. If we confirm that a breach has occurred, we will make sure customers are notified immediately.”

Brian Krebs reported on his website that several banks believe that Home Depot is the source of the data breach which has exposed credit and debit card information. Krebs also reported that the stolen information could go back to April or May and that there are signs that the data was stolen by the same group who were involved in the Target data breach.

Krebs stated, “There are signs that the perpetrators of this apparent breach may be the same group of Russian and Ukrainian hackers responsible for the data breaches at Target … among others.”

The Target data breach resulted in 40 million credit and debit card data information and personal data belong to a total of 70 million customers being compromised.

Brian Krebs also stated that the stolen information was for sale on Rescator was labelled American sanctions. Krebs believes that this was retribution for the US and European sanctions against Russia.

Hackers Successfully Target White Lodging

February 5, 2014 Damien Garvey

Hackers have successfully targeted the company White Lodging which has resulted in data belongs to thousands of people being compromised according to independent researcher Brian Krebs. The data breach has exposed customer data such as credit and debit card information.

White Lodging who maintains 168 hotel franchises under nationwide brands that include Hilton, Marriott, Westin and Sheraton have said that they are currently conducting an investigation into how the data was compromised.

Meanwhile Marriott have stated that they will continue to monitor the situation.

Jeff Flaherty who is a spokesman for Marriott explained, �We are working closely with the franchise management company as they investigate the matter. Because the suspected breach did not impact any systems that Marriott owns or controls, we do not have additional information to provide.�

The data breach has been linked back to White Lodging after banking fraud investigators investigated hundreds of fraudulent card activities at specific Marriott hotels. The common link was that the fraudulent card activities were being used at Marriott hotels that are managed by White Lodging. The fraudulent purchases were made in shops and restaurants at the hotels but weren�t used to book a room.

Krebs stated, �But those same sources said they were puzzled by the pattern of fraud, because it was seen only at specific Marriott hotels, including locations in Austin, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Louisville and Tampa. Turns out, the common thread among all of those Marriott locations is that they are managed by White Lodging.�

This is the latest major incident in the U.S. where debit and credit card information has been stolen by hackers in recent months after the retail giant Target was successfully attacked. In this attack alone, up to 110 million customers were affected.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder stated, �We are committed to working to find not only the perpetrators of these sorts of data breaches, but also any individuals and groups who exploit that data via credit card fraud.�

It is now vital that all companies ensure that they have the best security plan in place and is regularly tested to help protect themselves against the ever increasing threat of cyber hackers and cyber thieves. This should be supported with a robust backup solution to ensure that data can always be recovered no matter what action a hacker or cyber thieves takes such as modifying or deleting the data.