Partners Can Help

While the number of breaches in 2015 might be discouraging, Ostertag said there is something partners can do to help. He recommended that partners talk to their clients about prioritizing assets they need secured, particular to their own business, rather than trying to "boil the ocean" and secure everything. Beyond that, Ostertag said, a little security can go a long way, and partners can help make big changes by taking small steps, such as improving passwords to prevent credential theft, which accounted for about two-thirds of reported breaches. He also said partners should help clients develop a plan in case their organization does get breached, including incident responders, lawyers, public relations and more.