The Home Depot Monday announced its payment data systems have been breached, which could potentially impact customers using payment cards at its U.S. and Canadian stores, according to a press release. The retailer said there is no evidence the breach has impacted stores in Mexico or customers who shopped online at HomeDepot.com. 

While the company continues to determine the full scope, scale and impact of the breach, there is no evidence that debit PIN numbers were compromised, according to the announcement.

Home Depot's investigation is focused on April forward, and the company said it has taken aggressive steps to address the malware and protect customer data. The chain is offering free identity protection services, including credit monitoring, to any customer who used a payment card at a Home Depot store in 2014, from April on. 

"We apologize for the frustration and anxiety this causes our customers, and I want to thank them for their patience and support as we work through this issue," Frank Blake, chairman and CEO of Home Depot, said in a press release. "We owe it to our customers to alert them that we now have enough evidence to confirm that a breach has indeed occurred. It's important to emphasize that no customers will be responsible for fraudulent charges to their accounts." 

The investigation began Sept. 2, immediately after the company received reports from its banking partners and law enforcement that criminals may have hacked its payment data systems. 

Since then, the company said, its internal IT security team has been working "around the clock with leading IT security firms," its banking partners and the Secret Service to gather facts and provide information to customers. 

Responding to the increasing threat of cyber-attacks on the retail industry, Home Depot previously confirmed it will roll out EMV chip-and-PIN to all U.S. stores by the end of this year, well in advance of the October 2015 deadline established by the payments industry.