Home Depot investigates payment data breach

The retailer is working with law enforcement and banking partners

Home Depot said Tuesday it was investigating a possible breach of its systems holding customer payment information tied to credit and debit cards.

"We're looking into some unusual activity and we are working with our banking partners and law enforcement to investigate," Home Depot spokeswoman Paula Drake said via email.

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The source of the possible breach, as well as the number of people who might be affected, was not immediately clear.

Home Depot is "aggressively gathering facts" and will notify customers immediately if it determines there was a breach, she said.

If there was, it would be the latest in a string of high-profile attacks this past year that have hit companies including Target, P.F. Chang's China Bistro and Neiman Marcus.

The blog Krebs on Security reported the possible Home Depot breach earlier Tuesday, saying it may have been perpetrated by the same Russian and Ukrainian hackers who targeted those other businesses.

Zach Miners covers social networking, search and general technology news for IDG News Service. Follow Zach on Twitter at @zachminers. Zach's e-mail address is zach_miners@idg.com

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