Adobe has been fined $1million for a security data breach which occurred in 2013. The breach affected nearly 500,000 users as their data was stolen. The State of North Carolina will be the biggest beneficiary from the award. It is believed that users across 15 US states had their data compromised during the cyber attack.

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In a press release, the North Carolina Department of Justice stated, "Under a multistate agreement announced today, Adobe will pay $1 million to North Carolina and 14 other states and implement new policies and practices to prevent future similar breaches." The hefty fine levied on Adobe is expected to send a stringent message to other tech companies.

The case rested on concern that the company did not implement adequate systems to prevent the occurrence of such a breach. The case documents implied that users were affected personally as well as financially. The 15 states in the US held Adobe accountable for not being able to detect the data breach in time.

The documents revealed that data related to 552,000 users was compromised. Out of these, 52,734 users were from North Carolina. The state will get $71,186.75 out of the damages awarded. The state's attorney general Roy Cooper said that the companies and governments need to be careful about protecting sensitive data.

Maura Healey, the attorney general of Massachusetts, said that the settlement "resolves an investigation into the 2013 data breach of certain Adobe servers." The states which were party to the case include Indiana, Oregon, Missouri, and Minnesota, among others. Adobe has not issued any statement on the penalty yet.