Derivative Suit Against Home Depot For 2014 Data Breach Dismissed

A 15-month-old shareholders’ derivative litigation against Home Depot for inadequate security measures which caused the 2014 data breach has been dismissed by an Atlanta court, Daily Report says. Judge Thomas Thrash said there was no evidence by the plaintiffs that the management had provided misleading information and failed to counter threats.

"As long as the outside directors pursued any course of action that was reasonable, they would not have violated their duty of loyalty," the judge wrote in his statement. The shareholders, he however added, had not blamed the management for deliberate deceit but for failure to update security despite red flags raised about non-compliance.

Cybercriminals in 2014 had hacked Home Depot’s security network using third-party credentials, and installed malware, which copied payment card details of 56 million shoppers across the US. The home improvement retailer agreed to $13 million compensation to affected customers following class-action lawsuits against it.

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