Discount retailer TJX says it has reached a settlement with multiple states, including North Carolina, related to a massive data theft at the parent company of retailers T.J. Maxx and Marshall's a few years ago.
The Framingham, Mass.-based company says it will pay $2.5 million to create a data security fund for states as well as $5.5 million to cover expenses related to the states' investigations.
The breach was disclosed in January 2007 and exposed tens of millions of payment card numbers to hackers.
TJX says the settlement's costs are already accounted for in a 2007 reserve it created.
North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper said more than 40 percent of the security breaches reported to his office involved the theft of computers containing personal information.
