In a move to close the door on the largest reported retail data breach in history, TJX announced Tuesday that it has settled with 41 states who were probing the discount merchant's data security practices.

TJX, which operates more than 2,500 outlets nationwide, agreed to pay $9.75 million to settle investigations by 41 state attorneys general, who were looking into the monster breach, announced in January 2007, that exposed as many as 94 million credit and debit card numbers.

Under the agreement, TJX will pay $5.5 million in settlement fees, plus $1.75 million to cover the cost of the states' investigations. In addition, the company will provide $2.5 million to establish a new Data Security Fund that states will use for a number of data security initiatives, including researching the benefits of technology, developing best practices or model laws, and establishing consumer outreach programs.

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