Home Depot has confirmed that hackers have breached the credit card data of a huge number of customers. Reports said that hackers may have been stealing information for months now and has victimized maybe higher than the 40 million credit card numbers that have been stolen last year from Target. Home Depot first discovered this when they were contacted by banks and law enforcements.
Home Depot, a giant home improvement chain and retailer in the United States, has over 2,000 stores in U.S. and Canada.
This is a major issue for the credit card owners as well as banks and credit card companies. Right now, United States is still using cards with magnetic strips. Hackers are getting better while the card technology still remains to be outdated. Some countries have updated their system and are already using chip and pin. With the new chip and pin technology, it will become harder for hackers to commit cybercrime since it's deemed to be more secure.
Other retailers who had similar breaches in the past were Neiman Marcus, P.F Chang's, Supervalu Inc. and Goodwill.
Home Depot is currently trying to replace of its terminals to accept chip-enabled EMV cards. Credit card companies on the other hand are also speeding up the adoption of chip and pin in US debit and credit cards.
How do you protect yourself from credit card fraud?
Some credit card companies offer monthly insurance on their credit card in case of theft. If you don't want to pay extra for insurance, you can just monitor your transactions online or via phone every week. Make sure you keep track of all your transactions by keeping all the receipts or noting it down manually. If you feel that your credit card has been compromised, do not hesitate to call the bank.
