JUNEAU — A major accounting firm has agreed to provide credit protection for more than 77,000 current and former public employees whose personal information it lost, Alaska Attorney General Dan Sullivan said on Thursday.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP discovered it had lost the data in early December but didn’t notify the state until last week, he said.

The state pushed for a settlement, rather than suing, seeing it as a quicker means to ensure Alaskans’ interests are protected, Sullivan said.

The company’s general counsel, Charles Gerdts, confirmed the settlement.

Sullivan said that if Alaskans avail themselves of the protections offered, which range from credit monitoring to reimbursement for losses that might arise from any identity theft, the settlement could reach into the tens of millions of dollars.

Sullivan said the data includes names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers for people who were in the public employee and teachers’ retirement systems in 2003 and 2004.

He declined to say what form the data was in and didn’t rule out the possibility PricewaterhouseCoopers might recover it.

Neither Sullivan nor Gov. Sean Parnell immediately knew if their information was among what was lost. Commissioner of Administration Annette Kreitzer said hers was.

The state planned to send letters to those affected, informing them of the protections available and how to obtain them.

Information was posted online.

Cecily Hodges, president of the employee association at Fairbanks North Star Borough, said she was “shocked and infuriated” by word of the breach.

She said the broader Alaska Public Employees Association, with which the Fairbanks union affiliates, likewise knew nothing until word broke Thursday morning.

“We still do not know when the breach occurred, nor did we know anything about a settlement,” Hodges said.

“We have not been contacted by the Attorney General’s office.”

Bruce Senkow, president of the APEA, said he wants assurances that all his members — including those in more rural areas and those who aren’t computer-savvy — will get the updates they need.

He also wants more details from the administration on the duration of the protections offered.

“We need a plan to address everybody,” he said.

PricewaterhouseCoopers had the data in its role as a state expert witness in a lawsuit the state filed against its former actuary, Mercer, regarding work Mercer had done.

In a written statement, Gerdts said PricewaterhouseCoopers “regrets that the information was misplaced while under our control and has made a significant commitment in reaching this resolution expeditiously.”

News-Miner reporter Christopher Eshleman contributed to this story.