In October next year, retailers will have a very good reason to update their point-of-sales systems and boost their security: they pretty much have to.

But when Target's 2013 retail data breaches and Home Depot’s massive breach in September were scrutinized further, they were both found to be highly preventable with existing technology and knowledge.

Cyber-forensics experts found the theft could have been avoided if Target had followed its own established protocols, and Home Depot actively ignored warnings from its own IT department for years. No amount of tech upgrades can make up for that kind of slack.