Chicago – Attorney General Kwame Raoul, along with Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, today led a coalition of 46 attorneys general in announcing a $17.5 million-dollar settlement with The Home Depot. The settlement resolves a multistate investigation of a 2014 data breach, which exposed the payment card information of approximately 40 million Home Depot consumers nationwide. Illinois will receive more than $1.3 million.
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The breach occurred when hackers gained access to The Home Depot’s network and deployed malware that enabled them for a period of time to obtain the payment card information of Home Depot customers who used self-checkout lanes at Home Depot stores throughout the U.S.
In addition to the $17.5 million total payment to the states, The Home Depot has agreed to implement and maintain a series of data security practices designed to strengthen its information security program and safeguard the personal information of consumers.
“The Home Depot’s data breach compromised the personal information of thousands of Illinois residents,” Raoul said. “Consumers deserve to have confidence while making purchases that their personal information will be protected. Today’s settlement will ensure that The Home Depot implements proper security measures and takes appropriate action to prevent future data breaches and protect consumers’ personal information from unlawful use.”
Specific information security provisions agreed to in the settlement include:
- Employing a duly qualified Chief Information Security Officer, reporting to both the C-level executives and Board of Directors regarding The Home Depot’s security posture and security risks.
- Providing resources necessary to fully implement the company’s information security program.
- Providing appropriate security awareness and privacy training to all personnel who have access to the company’s network or responsibility for U.S. consumers’ personal information.
- Employing specific security safeguards with respect to logging and monitoring, access controls, password management, two factor authentication, file integrity monitoring, firewalls, encryption, risk assessments, penetration testing, intrusion detection, and vendor account management.
- Undergoing a post settlement information security assessment which, in part, will evaluate its implementation of the agreed upon information security program.
Privacy Unit Chief Matt Van Hise, Consumer Fraud Bureau Chief Beth Blackston, and Assistant Attorneys General Ronak Shah and Carolyn Friedman handled the settlement for Raoul's Consumer Fraud Bureau.
Joining Raoul, Paxton and Tong in the settlement are the attorneys general of Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
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