Missouri nabs portion of $18.5M Target settlement

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) agreed to pay an $18.5 million settlement to 47 states, including Missouri, and Washington, D.C., related to the company’s 2013 data breach.

Missouri will receive $302,747, according to a news release from state Attorney General Josh Hawley’s office. Loree Anne Paradise, Hawley’s deputy chief of staff, said via email the funds secured by Missouri will be used for consumer protection efforts.

The settlement — said to be the largest multistate data breach payout to date — resolves an investigation led by Connecticut and Illinois into the breach that affected 41 million customer payment card accounts and 60 million customers’ contact information. Through the investigation, state attorneys general claimed Target did not take adequate steps to stop the breach from occurring.

“It is important to Missouri consumers and to this office that those entities doing business with Missouri consumers take adequate steps to protect the data of consumers,” Hawley said in the release. “My office will continue to work to protect consumers when their personal information is compromised in violation of the law.”

In November 2013, cyber criminals gained access to Target’s gateway server via stolen credentials from a third-party vendor. The hackers then installed malware on the system to steal customers’ personal information.

The attack led to the ousting of Target CEO Gregg Steinhafel and weakened sales.

Target posted first-quarter earnings this year of $681 million, a 7.7 percent increase from a year earlier.

TGT shares were trading at $54.01 as of 9:21 a.m., near a 52-week low of $52.72. The company’s 52-week high is $79.33.

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