As far as settlements go, this is one of the smaller examples. Target is shelling out more than the $10 million it paid to individual victims, but the current settlement is peanuts compared to the $39 million paid to banks and the $67 million Visa agreement. It's barely comparable to the $19 million MasterCard payout.

However, this will likely serve as yet another reminder that lax security (such as Target's decision to ignore hack alerts for 12 days) can have long-lasting consequences for retailers, let alone customers. It also represents a closure of sorts Target can spend less time dealing with the fallout from the breach and focus more on reducing the chances of a repeat disaster.