In the few months since the data breach at OPM was announced, IT leaders and agencies have been assessing and scrambling to manage the fall-out (with some even finding positives in the wake of the breach).

So where has all this introspection got us? This month, a discussion brought together military leaders to share some of the lessons learned at the DoD.

Writing for Federal Computer Week, Zach Noble, summarized some of the key takeaways:

Thought your agency’s endpoint protection was up to snuff? Think again.

According to DLT partner, Symantec, legacy endpoint practices, processes, and technologies are no longer sufficient to block attacks.

Data breaches. Not a day seems to pass by without concerns about new vulnerabilities, a successful hack, or a scramble to respond.

Without an incident response plan, the impact can be catastrophic as we’ve seen at OPM, IRS, and the list goes on. It makes the difference between a hacker simply getting in the front door without fruitful results and one that sneaks in, lays low for months and compromises or steals vast amounts of sensitive data. It also creates a huge PR headache and compromises employee trust.

The Internet of Things (IoT) just got a lot more secure. DLT partner, Symantec, announced in late August that it is securing more than one billion IoT devices – including everything from ATMs to vehicles to critical infrastructure.

The number of IoT devices is expected to reach 25 billion by 2020, and from a security perspective remain particularly vulnerable to attacks because of their always-on nature.

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