Was Home Depot Hacked?

It sure looks that way…this video offers some great insights into the resale of stolen data. They even have a clip with someone trying to buy credit card data.  This clip is from 5 days ago – so what’s happening now?

The ABC Blog – 7 Hours Ago Reported…

“The huge hacking attack against Home Depot’s payment systems could turn out to be the biggest breach of any retailer’s data so far. The company confirmed the data break-in but did not say how many credit and data cards are affected. The total could be as much as 60 million”

In other words, yes, there’s been a breach.

The thing is, Home Depot is saying they are not aware of credit card data being taken. What does that mean?

It means they don’t have to tell us yet – but it doesn’t mean there’s not a problem. Since the breach, ““multiple financial institutions … are reporting a steep increase over the past few days in fraudulent ATM withdrawals on customer accounts.” We’re talking about 60 Million Card Numbers here.  That’s a lot of data – on the video you can see that this type of data is worth a lot of money as long as the consumers have not been notified. That means someone may be using my card right now and I would not know it.  Time to check my card charges online.

Chip & Pin Technology

If Chip & Pin technology had been in place, both Target and Home Depot would not have had this issue. The really bad news is that we have to wait until October 2015 before companies like Home Depot have this technology in place.

Will that stop hackers?

No – security is a long term play for technology providers. Every few months new technology comes out and new hacker strategies evolve. Actually, it’s the other way around. The hackers come up with something that works, and technology companies try to stop it. They then come up with the next thing. So while companies are scrambling to get the Chip & Pin thing going, hackers will be developing something completely different. They use this strategy as long as they can – then at the last minute switch to something completely new.

The Next Edition of The House & the Cloud…

The best thing you can do is get ready with the updated House & the Cloud.  I just finished the edits and the artwork. I have one more chapter coming to me from an expert in managed services to bring this all together…so by the end of this month we will be printing copies.  I know it’s taking longer than expected, but it’s really close now. Stay tuned…

In the mean time, check out my latest report on How to Upgrade Your Sales Position and Not Get Fired!

“Don’t Get Fired!”  << Special Report for Technology Resellers!

© 2014, David Stelzl