--- description: Cyber thieves pulled off a massive attack title: Home Depot Breach Exposed 56 Million Credit Cards image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7aae78675c65c062/6986a1c4d0b6f2a8c7305eb3/164819493.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Tech](/tag/time-section-tech/) ## Tech Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Home Depot Breach Exposed 56 Million Credit Cards  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Sep 19, 2014 1:09 AM CUT  A Home Depot store is seen in Silver Spring, Maryland, on March 28\. 2013. A Home Depot store is seen in Silver Spring, Maryland, on March 28\. 2013.Jewel Samad—AFP/Getty Images  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Sep 19, 2014 1:09 AM CUT Hackers had access to 56 million credit and debit cards when they breached Home Depot’s security system this year, the company [said Thursday](http://media.corporate-ir.net/media%5Ffiles/IROL/63/63646/HD%5FData%5FUpdate%5FII%5F9-18-14.pdf "undefined"). The breach was even larger than the attack on Target last year, when 40 million cards were compromised. The company said that thieves had placed malware software on cash registers in Home Depots throughout the U.S. and Canada from April to September. The malware has since been eliminated. The breach will cost the company at least $62 million. “We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and anxiety this has caused and want to reassure them that they will not be liable for fraudulent charges,” Chief Executive Frank Blake said in a statement. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3399822/home-depot-breach-exposed-56-million-credit-cards/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3399822/home-depot-breach-exposed-56-million-credit-cards/"},"headline":"Home Depot Breach Exposed 56 Million Credit Cards","datePublished":"2014-09-19T01:09:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:03:12.593Z","description":"Cyber thieves pulled off a massive attack","url":"https://time.com/3399822/home-depot-breach-exposed-56-million-credit-cards/","keywords":["Tech","Security"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7aae78675c65c062/6986a1c4d0b6f2a8c7305eb3/164819493.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7aae78675c65c062/6986a1c4d0b6f2a8c7305eb3/164819493.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"US-ECONOMY-HOUSING","caption":"US-ECONOMY-HOUSING","creditText":"Jewel Samad—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-tech/","name":"Tech"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3399822/home-depot-breach-exposed-56-million-credit-cards/","name":"Home Depot Breach Exposed 56 Million Credit Cards"}}]}] ```