Article Details
Scrape Timestamp (UTC): 2024-04-07 17:44:45.781
Original Article Text
Click to Toggle View
Home Depot confirms third-party data breach exposed employee info. Home Depot has confirmed that it suffered a data breach after one of its SaaS vendors mistakenly exposed a small sample of limited employee data, which could potentially be used in targeted phishing attacks. Home Depot is the largest home improvement retailer, with more than 2,300 stores in North America and over 475,000 employees. On Thursday, a threat actor known as IntelBroker leaked limited data for approximately 10,000 Home Depot employees on a hacking forum. "In April 2024, Home Depot suffered a data breach that exposed the corporate information belonging to 10K employees of the company," reads the forum post. After BleepingComputer contacted Home Depot, the company confirmed that one of its third-party SaaS vendors mistakenly exposed sample employee data. "A third-party Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) vendor inadvertently made public a small sample of Home Depot associates' names, work email addresses and User IDs during testing of their systems," Home Depot told BleepingComputer. While this data is not highly sensitive, exposing only corporate IDs, names, and email addresses, it could be used by threat actors to conduct targeted phishing attacks against Home Depot employees. These phishing attacks could be designed to gather more sensitive information, such as Home Depot credentials, which could then be sold to other threat actors or used to breach the company's network to steal corporate data or deploy ransomware. For this reason, all Home Depot employees should be wary of any emails containing links to pages that request corporate credentials or other information. If one of these emails is received, it should be reported to the company's IT staff, who can verify whether it is legitimate. IntelBroker is a well-known threat actor who first gained notoriety by breaching DC Health Link, an organization that administers the health care plans of U.S. House members, their staff, and their families. The incident resulted in widespread media attention and a congressional hearing after the data for 170,000 affected individuals, including members and staff of the U.S. House of Representatives, was leaked. Other cybersecurity incidents linked to IntelBroker are the breaches of PandaBuy, Acuity, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and the Weee! grocery service, as well as an alleged breach of General Electric Aviation.
Daily Brief Summary
Home Depot confirmed a data breach caused by a third-party SaaS vendor exposing employee data.
Limited information for about 10,000 employees was leaked by threat actor IntelBroker on a hacking forum.
Exposed details include names, work email addresses, and user IDs, which are not highly sensitive but could enable phishing attacks.
Home Depot warned its employees to be vigilant about phishing attempts seeking additional sensitive information or credentials.
The data breach raises concerns about the security protocols of third-party vendors and the risks they present.
IntelBroker, the threat actor behind the leak, has been involved in previous high-profile breaches, including one affecting U.S. House members and their staff.
Home Depot employees are advised to report suspicious emails to IT staff for verification to prevent potential security breaches.