http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/03/technology/home-depot-data-breach.html?_r=1" If a breach is confirmed, Home Depot will be the latest target in a recent string of hacking attacks against major companies, after Target, Neiman Marcus, Michaels, Sally’s Beauty, P.F. Chang’s and United Parcel Service. Those companies said criminals had installed malicious software on their systems that siphoned out customers’ payment information. The hackers who broke into the systems are believed to belong to the same crime ring in Eastern Europe.
The number of customers affected by the breaches amounts to more than one-third of the American population. In late July, the Homeland Security Department and the Secret Service issued a report warning retailers to check their in-store cash register systems for a set of malware that could evade detection of antivirus products. The Secret Service estimated that over 1,000 businesses had been infected by the software, which security researchers called Backoff."
