US retail chain Target has agreed to pay an $18.5m settlement with 47 states and the District of Columbia after a 2013 data breach in which hackers stole the payment data of 41 million customers. The investigation into the incident, which was led by the attorneys general of Illinois and Connecticut, found that the attackers stole credentials from a third-party vendor and accessed Target's gateway server in November 2013. In May 2014, Target announced it had discovered another breach. In March 2014, Target admitted that its computer security system did alert it to suspicious activity. The settlement also required Target to improve its cybersecurity.
US retail chain Target has agreed to pay an $18.5m settlement with 47 states and the District of Columbia after a 2013 data breach in which hackers stole the payment data of 41 million customers. The investigation into the incident, which was led by the attorneys general of Illinois and Connecticut, found that the attackers stole credentials from a third-party vendor and accessed Target's gateway server in November 2013. In May 2014, Target announced it had discovered another breach. The settlement also required Target to improve its cybersecurity.