Home Depot Fraud Essay

November 6, 2014, Home Depot Inc., the world’s largest home improvement retailer was hacked by cybercriminals. Hackers gained access to Home Depot Inc., systems by stealing a password from a vendor. The hackers were able to breach Home Depot computer system and steal information for 56 million credit and debit card accounts and 53 million email address of customers. Although, the hackers had only access to the perimeter of Home Depot networks it was a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows which allowed them to fully breach the network. Moreover, the hackers were able to infiltrate the company’s point-of-sale system using high lever permissions, which allowed them to deploy malware on Home Depot self -check out system. The malware allowed the hackers to gain access to many customers credit card information which they then sold on the black market. Overall, the Home Depot hack compromised millions of customer’s credit and debit cards accounts and cost the company around $62 million to recover from the breach, including cost for call-center staffing and legal expenses. According to the company insurance will only cover $27 million of that cost leaving the addition …show more content…
Fraud perpetrators are trust violators who failed to meet their fiduciary duties. Trust violators fall under two categories: the accidental fraudster and the predator. The predator is one who actively seek out opportunities to defraud the organization. Once hired the predator searches for opportunities to achieve their goals of financial or economic gain. By contrast, the accidental fraudster usually acts under some form of distress. Accidental fraudster typically commit fraud due to non-sharable financial or economic problems. The fraud triangle: pressure/motive, opportunity, and rationalization is based on the accidental fraudster more than the