TARGET REACHES $18.5 MILLION SETTLEMENT OF 2013 DATA BREACH

New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman has announced that Minnesota-based retail giant Target Corp. has reached an $18.5 million settlement over a massive data breach that occurred before Christmas in 2013.

The agreement, which involves 47 states and the District of Columbia, is the largest multistate data breach settlement in history. According to Schneiderman’s office, New York residents will receive $635,000 of that money. Moreover, Target has agreed to implement a comprehensive program to protect consumers’ private data and help protect against future hacks.

The breach, which happened between November 17 and December 19, 2013, exposed contact information for more than 61 million customers and affected more than 41 million customer payment card accounts. It heavily affected the retailer’s sale for many months and eventually resulted in the departure of Target’s then-CEO, chairman and president Gregg Steinhafel, who resigned in May 2014.