Home Depot is one of the most recent big retailers hit by a security breach, which affected 53 million user accounts and lost 56 million credit/debit cards on file.

Instead of blaming the internal systems Home Depot uses to keep passwords, email addresses and cards safe, the home improvement and construction store blamed a Windows security flaw.

Like Us on Facebook

This is not the first time Microsoft has been blamed for company's mistakes, but Home Depot might have a legitimate claim. The hackers were able to breach the system using a third-party vendor system, capable of exploiting a flaw in Microsoft's security system.

Microsoft has since updated its security features to prevent this attack happening again, but for Home Depot it is too late. There is no news on where the hackers have uploaded the user information, but all users affected have been told to change passwords and other sensitive information.

In an attempt to beef up security, an IT employee at Home Depot apparently bought MacBooks and iPhones  - which don't use Windows - for the senior team to make sure they cannot be attacked from hackers. Although not immune from attack, Macs are generally considered safer because the vast majority of malware is written for Windows since so many more systems use it.

This is a small boon for Apple, showing industry employees believe its computers offer more security than Microsoft. Both have their flaws, however, a recent iCloud hack, alongside a Mac OS X and iOS malware attack show Apple's systems are not invulnerable.

Mac has been used as an industry standard tool in a lot of professional workplaces, MacBook Pro and Air both continue to be used by developers, publishers, writers and other professionals, who prefer Apple's own brand to any of the Windows OEMs.

This has provided Apple with its largest Mac growth in three years, selling 5.5 million in the third quarter of 2014. Microsoft, on the other hand, continues to have dwindling PC sales.

Tagshome depot, Mac OS X, security breaches, hackers