According to the latest monthly intelligence threat report from DLT partner, Symantec, spam has dropped below 50% for the first time since September 2003.

During June 2015, of the 25 billion email messages monitored by Symantec only 46.4% were junk.

So what’s behind the downward trend?

Security breaches are on the rise and government systems are goldmines for would-be intruders. If 2015 has taught us anything it’s that it’s no longer a case of if or when a significant security incident will occur, but how well your processes and controls address detection, analysis and response.

We all know the negative outcomes of the data breach at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and can only hope that there are no more surprises stemming from the hack. Yet, despite the gloom and doom, the attack has delivered some positives and has quickly become a major catalyst for change in how the government approaches cybersecurity. Below are two positives (and more to come), that we’ve been able to identify so far:

IT security threats are getting increasingly sophisticated – zero-day threats, propagating worms, and low-and-slow attacks – each of which defy most detection mechanisms and keep CISOs increasingly on their toes.

According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), over 25,500 data incidents at federal agencies occurred in 2013 alone. Breaches in 2014 also occurred in highly visible agencies like the White House, State Department and Postal Service just to name a few.  To avoid being on GAO’s 2015 report, agencies need to take a 3-step approach to prevent data breaches:

1. Implement real-time network visibility

IT organizations have never been as well equipped to deal with sophisticated security threats as they are today. But at the same time, IT organizations have never been at greater risk.

Despite putting in place policies, controls, technologies and so on, cyber adversaries have never been in a greater position of strength. According to DLT partner, ForeScout, attackers are increasingly coordinated and have a wealth of resources to draw from, including hacking communities, organized crime, and nation states.

With the recent data breach at OPM, the spotlight has firmly been on federal data breaches and the vulnerabilities that expose sensitive employee and citizen information to would-be hackers.

Back in May, I wrote about the 6 Elements of a Government Insider Threat Program as recommended by a panel of government and industry experts at this year’s Symantec Government Symposium in Washington, D.C.

#1 on the list was educating the workforce.

With fewer resources than the private sector, yet faced with the same threats, the U.S. government is dealing with a complex dilemma. Both the public and government employees demand accountability for data breaches, but few understand the challenges that federal CIOs face – hiring and keeping specialized talent, paying for the hardware and software, and keeping pace with changing political agendas.

Data breach after data breach – attacks on federal IT systems are becoming a regular occurrence. And, as the true scope and impact of the recent cyberattack on OPM’s systems continues to unravel (read our 8 facts about the OPM breach to learn more) – cybersecurity has moved firmly center state as the White House’s number one priority.