Sears Holdings Corp. announced Friday that its Kmart stores were hit by a data breach that started in the previous month and that its customers' debit and credit cards may have been compromised.

The data theft at Kmart, a chain of discount department stores, is the latest retailer to be hit in a string of cyber attacks against big stores including Home Depot, Supervalu and Target.

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Sears Holdings, which also handles Sears shops, said that the information technology department at Kmart detected a breach on Thursday on its payment data systems.

Although the company was not able to offer how many cards were affected, it said that based on the investigation so far, it believes that no email addresses, Social Security numbers, debit card PIN numbers or personal information were obtained by the cybercriminals. As of the moment, there is no evidence that consumers that bought from the company through Kmart.com were affected.

The company also said that Kmart was able to purge the malware from its computer systems.

The news of the data breach is a blow to Hoffman Estates, Kmart's Illinois-based parent company, which is having a difficult time with sales declines and losses as it vies to stay relevant to shoppers.

Kmart is coordinating with banking partners and federal law enforcement authorities as it investigates the data theft, according to Sears. The discount retailer is also deploying software to safeguard the private information of its customers.

The company also said that it will be offering free credit-monitoring services and protection for consumers who purchased items with a debit or credit card at Kmart stores in the month of September and through Thursday. It also pointed out that according to the policies of the majority of credit card companies, customers that report unauthorized charges in a timely manner have no liabilities for them.

Sears said that the most updated information will be available on kmart.com, and consumers can reach out to its customer care center at 888-488-5978 if there are any issues.

TagsKmart, Sears Holdings Corp., SEARS, Data breach, store data breach, hackers, Stolen data, Data theft, home depot, Supervalu, Target, Hoffman Estates