Sears Holdings says data breach at Kmart goes back to September

Sears Holdings Corp. is announcing a data breach at its Kmart stores that started in early September.

The parent company, which also operates Sears stores, says that Kmart's information technology team detected the breach on Thursday. Sears immediately launched a full investigation and is working with a leading security firm.

Kmart was able to quickly remove the malware but the chain believes that certain debit and credit cards numbers have been compromised. The company couldn't disclose how many cards were affected.

The data theft at Kmart is the latest in a string of breaches that have hit several big retailers, including Target and Home Depot.