There was a moment during the hacking of Target when a software program could have put an end to the problem. But that option was turned off to give the system more human control. “Had the company’s security team responded when it was supposed to, the theft that has since engulfed Target, touched as many as one in three American consumers, and led to an international manhunt for the hackers never would have happened at all.” From BloombergBusinessweek: Missed alarms and 40 million stolen credit card numbers: How Target blew it.

+ NYT: Consumers are not powerless in the face of card fraud.