The retail industry is one of the most frequently targeted sectors for data breaches. In fact, for the past two years, it has been singled out as the  industry who has suffered the most data breaches.

The repercussions of a data breach can be dire for a retailer’s reputation and extremely costly to the business. Target, for example, was recently forced to pay an $18.5 million settlement for the 2013 breach it suffered that affected roughly 40 million customers. The fines were high, but the reputational damage was even more significant as Target’s profits plummeted in the days after the fallout.