In September 2014, The Home Depot disclosed a major data breach involving customer payment information. The source identifies a central security weakness: employees entered credit-card numbers directly into computers at service desks, pro desks, and specialty departments such as flooring, kitchen cabinets, appliances, and millwork, instead of using dedicated point-of-sale terminals. The company also faced reports that card numbers were stolen during purchases made on Homedepot.com, indicating that exposure was not necessarily limited to physical stores.
The breach showed how operational shortcuts and inconsistent payment-security controls could undermine a retailer operating across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Home Depot stopped the direct-entry practice after the incident and offered one year of free credit monitoring through AllClearID to customers who requested it. The supplied source does not provide a confirmed number of affected records, a named hacker, or a specific regulatory settlement, so the established consequences are limited to the disclosed security changes and customer remediation described above.
