People search Sears data breach timeline because the brand sits on billions of accounts, credentials, and cloud workloads. BreachHistory indexes 7 Sears-linked incidents, with headline counts up to 96K+ in catalog rows. This page maps every attested event through 2026 with internal links to canonical records.
Why Sears breach history matters
Sears operates in Technology (United States). Across indexed rows, recurring themes include cloud and database misconfiguration, third-party and supply-chain exposure. Understanding the chronological pattern helps security teams, customers, and regulators separate confirmed disclosures from forum marketing.
Full timeline through 2026
2018 — — Customer data
Cataloged incident. Third-party. Customer data. Exposed categories include Names, emails, addresses, and other PII. No attested victim count is published for this row yet. See the sears2018 and canonical BreachHistory entry.
2017 — — Sears: Information on this security breach is provided by…
Cataloged incident. Information on this security breach is provided by the Office of the Indiana Attorney General Exposed categories include Personal information. BreachHistory cites approximately 96K+ affected records in this row. See the sears2017 and canonical BreachHistory entry.
2014 — — Sears: Sears Holding Corp announced Friday that a data…
Cataloged incident. Sears Holding Corp announced Friday that a data breach occurred at their K-Mart stores starting last month, with malicious software targeting their Point of Sale systems that compromised customers' credit card information.Currently, Sears Holding Corp is not clear as to the number of affected customer cards and the breach is currently under investigation. K-Mart has said that they were able to remove the malware from their systems.K-Mart is working currently working with federal investigators.F Exposed categories include Personal information. No attested victim count is published for this row yet. See the sears2014 and canonical BreachHistory entry.
2013 — — Sears: An assistant manager was forced to open a Kmart…
Cataloged incident. An assistant manager was forced to open a Kmart safe and give a thief access to $6,000 in cash and an unencrypted backup disk with a day's worth of customer information. The backup disk contained names, addresses, dates of birth, prescription numbers, prescription providers, insurance cardholder IDs and drug names. The armed robbery occurred on March 17. Exposed categories include Personal information. BreachHistory cites approximately 788 affected records in this row. See the sears2013 and canonical BreachHistory entry.
2012 — — Sears: An interesting photo caught the attention of a man…
Unverified claim — treat actor counts cautiously. An interesting photo caught the attention of a man passing by a trash container. The photo was among other photos, names, phone numbers, and receipts. The records were tracked to Sears Portrait Studio and the man eventually contacted the local media after failing to get a response from the company. Sears responded to media inquiries and claimed that this was an unusual incident that was against company policy. Exposed categories include Personal information. No attested victim count is published for this row yet. See the sears2012 and canonical BreachHistory entry.
2008 — — Sears: Sears' ManageMyHome
Cataloged incident. Sears' ManageMyHome.com site exposed customer purchase data to any online visitor who asked about it. Exposed categories include Personal information. No attested victim count is published for this row yet. See the sears2008 and canonical BreachHistory entry.
2006 — — Sears: A spreadsheet with the business or individual…
Cataloged incident. A spreadsheet with the business or individual names, identification or Social Security numbers, business addresses and business phone numbers of Sears contractors was accidentally included in an email sent to 373 contractors on April 13. The contractors were instructed to delete the email on April 24 and were also required to send written confirmation that they had done so. Exposed categories include Personal information. BreachHistory cites approximately 196 affected records in this row. See the sears2006 and canonical BreachHistory entry.
Patterns and analysis
- Cloud and database misconfiguration — appears across multiple Sears catalog entries; prioritize controls that address this class of failure.
- Third-party and supply-chain exposure — appears across multiple Sears catalog entries; prioritize controls that address this class of failure.
- Record-count hygiene — BreachHistory indexes actor-cited figures separately from company-confirmed totals; read each row's technicalWriteup before treating counts as fact.
- 2026 monitoring — New disclosures roll into this timeline as they are verified or labeled unverified per catalog policy.
What to do if you may be affected
- Step 1: Enable phishing-resistant MFA on every account tied to this brand.
- Step 2: Use unique passwords and a password manager—breach rows often involve credential reuse.
- Step 3: Monitor official company breach notices and regulator filings, not dark-web downloads.
- Step 4: Review OAuth app permissions and revoke unused third-party integrations.
- Step 5: Bookmark the Sears company page for new 2026+ disclosures.
Canonical BreachHistory hub
Explore every indexed row: breachhistory.com/sears · Latest: sears2018.
Sources: BreachHistory catalog (7 rows for Sears), company and regulator disclosures cited in individual breach records.