Staples investigating possible data breach

Staples could soon join the growing list of major retailers dealing with data breaches.

The company is looking into a possible credit card information breach, according to Mark Cautela, a Staples spokesman.

{mosads}The company “is in the process” of investigating and has reached out to law enforcement, Cautela said in a statement. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“We take the protection of customer information very seriously, and are working to resolve the situation,” Cautela said.

Security blogger Brian Krebs first reported banks were showing evidence of a potential data breach involving Staples.

The scale of data breaches at major retailers has grown over the last year. Home Depot revealed the payment card information for 56 million people was compromised on its networks several months after Target estimated a breach had exposed 40 million customers’ credit card info.

Staples, with more than 1,800 U.S. locations, has about the same number of stores as Target and roughly 400 fewer than Home Depot.  

Krebs reported Northeastern Staples outlets showed evidence of breaches. The hacks at Target and Home Depot affected stores nationwide.