US retail chain Target has agreed to reach an $ 18.5 m settlement with 47 states and the District of Columbia after a 2013 data breach in which attackers stole the personal data of 41 million customers . "Companies across sectors should be taking their data security policies and procedures seriously," Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen, who led the investigation along with Illinois counterpart Lisa Madigan, said in a statement. The investigation into the incident , which was led by the attorneys general of Illinois and Connecticut , found that the attackers stole data from a third - party vendor and accessed Target 's payment server in November 2013 . The next year , the company admitted that its cybersecurity systems had alerted it to the breach , but the warnings were ignored . The settlement also required Target to improve its cybersecurity .
US retail chain Target has agreed to reach an $ 18.5 m settlement with 47 states and the District of Columbia after a 2013 data breach in which attackers stole the personal 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 data from a third - party vendor and accessed Target 's payment server in November 2013 . The next year , the company admitted that its cybersecurity systems had alerted it to the breach , but the warnings were ignored . The settlement also required Target to improve its cybersecurity .