Dive Brief:

• Home Depot established a task force after last year’s retail data hacks to prevent a similar situation at their point-of-sales systems.

• The Atlanta-based home improvement retailer received recommendations by January and signed a $7 million contract with a data-security vendor in April.

• But in September the retailer learned it had been the victim of a massive breach that apparently took place before its new systems were put into place. 

Dive Insight:

The slow, if steady, pace that Home Depot took to react to the possibility of a data breach is due to a common careful approach endemic in the executive ranks of many retailers, observers say. That creates an environment where even retailers cognizant of what must be done are taken advantage of by the swiftness of hackers.

Target’s situation, caused by its own high-profile breach last year, is one lesson to be learned by retailers; perhaps Home Depot’s is another. Time is of the essence when it comes to protecting customer data and avoiding disaster for the stores where they shop.