As the fallout from Target's data breach continues to develop, one question lingers on retailers' minds: How can they prevent this from happening to them? The attack, which is now reported to have affected up to 110 million customers, slipped past Target's security measures and stole hordes of data from the retail chain's servers. And it wasn't just Target: Neiman Marcus announced that its data had been stolen and the same malware strain has reportedly been linked to at least six other retailers. 

As new information continues to emerge about the scope, nature and source of the attack, industry leaders are seeking solutions to bolster security and protect customer data from multiple angles. 

Emphasis on chip-based payment cards
The recent data breaches have renewed industry interest in the latest technology for credit and payment cards. 

"The technology that exists in cards out there is 20th century technology and we've got 21st century hackers," Mallory Duncan, National Retail Federation (NRF) senior vice president, said at the annual convention, according to Reuters.

The promising card technology, known as Europay MasterCard Visa standard (EMV), has been used in Europe for years. It stores consumer information on computer chips, rather than magnetic strips, and requires PIN numbers. These chip-based cards might not have prevented the Target hack, but they would make it much more difficult for cybercriminals to use stolen data. 

However, a number of hurdles remain before the technology can become widespread in the United States. First, banks and card companies need to implement the technology and agree on conversion costs and liabilities. Retailers also need to implement systems that are capable of reading the chip-based cards. Many leading POS software systems are EMV compatible or can be retrofitted with the technology, the NRF Convention newsletter noted, and retailers can ensure the greatest security by staying current with software upgrades.

Best practices for point of sale systems
Even before EMV cards become widely available, businesses can take a number of steps to make sure their point of sale systems are less vulnerable to attacks. Newer POS systems have the capability to encrypt data from end to end, which adds layers of protection to customer data, Forbes reported, making it more difficult for hackers to steal identities. POS devices should be used only for POS, Search Security emphasized: A set up where POS applications are used on a computer alongside other programs leaves the POS data exposed to multiple entry points for malware. Instead, POS systems should be on isolated and segmented networks that are protected from the rest of the system by multiple safeguards.