--- description: They also stole information from 56 million credit cards title: Home Depot Hackers Exposed 53 Million Email Addresses image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b9a7f0805c9cc51/6987622b55a859ae14a835e8/home-depot.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 Hackers Exposed 53 Million Email Addresses  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Nov 6, 2014 11:38 PM CUT  A shopper walks past a large Home Depot logo inside a store in New York on May 16, 2006 A shopper walks past a large Home Depot logo inside a store in New York on May 16, 2006Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Nov 6, 2014 11:38 PM CUT The Home Depot hack was even [worse](http://online.wsj.com/articles/home-depot-hackers-used-password-stolen-from-vendor-1415309282 "undefined") than authorities originally thought, according to a new report. Along with compromising 56 million credit-card accounts, the hackers also exposed 53 million customer email addresses. Two months ago, the hackers accessed the retailer’s system through usernames and passwords they stole from a refrigeration contractor’s electronic billing account. Target and other companies have been infiltrated in a similar fashion. Authorities who investigated the Home Depot incident [revealed](http://online.wsj.com/articles/home-depot-hackers-used-password-stolen-from-vendor-1415309282 "undefined") the full scope of the hack to the _Wall Street Journal_ on Thursday. The Home Depot hackers took aim at 7,500 of the company’s self-checkout lanes. The software hid itself for five months, collecting data and transmitting it to an outside system. \[[_WSJ_](http://online.wsj.com/articles/home-depot-hackers-used-password-stolen-from-vendor-1415309282 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3569130/home-depot-hack-53-million-emails/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3569130/home-depot-hack-53-million-emails/"},"headline":"Home Depot Hackers Exposed 53 Million Email Addresses","datePublished":"2014-11-06T23:38:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:03:37.547Z","description":"They also stole information from 56 million credit cards","url":"https://time.com/3569130/home-depot-hack-53-million-emails/","keywords":["Tech","Security","Companies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b9a7f0805c9cc51/6987622b55a859ae14a835e8/home-depot.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/blt2b9a7f0805c9cc51/6987622b55a859ae14a835e8/home-depot.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"A shopper walks past a large Home Depot logo inside a store in New York on May 16, 2006.","caption":"A shopper walks past a large Home Depot logo inside a store in New York on May 16, 2006.","creditText":"Bloomberg/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/3569130/home-depot-hack-53-million-emails/","name":"Home Depot Hackers Exposed 53 Million Email Addresses"}}]}] ```