Health care providers had arough start this year. Hackers have already attacked multiple hospitals forcing them to pay a ransomto get their files back, including patient records and billinginformation.

While this is harrowing news, the truth is, most of the time,these breaches can be prevented simply with education and training.In fact, human error is responsible for 52 percent ofsecurity breaches.

Related: Cyberattacks: The next health careepidemic

Your clients, who are usually human resources professionals,stand as one of the primary lines of defense against these attacks,as they manage sensitive information that hackers want.

It’s no secret that as a benefits broker, your job now includeshuman resources and cybersecurity issues are no longer just for property and casualtybrokers.

Corporate email, unmanaged devices, and social media accountsare all vulnerable to attacks. These attacks most often comethrough infected email that carries malware, ransomware, and otherviruses, all of which are programs created to damage or disableyour devices.

Related: Health care took top spot in cyberattacks in2015

Often these emails appear to be harmless, and they can even besent to look as if they are from a member of your company.

If unchecked, these security risks will only continue toincrease. So how can you help your clients mitigate these risks andprotect their sensitive information? Here are four ways you canhelp your clients create a safer and more secure environment:

Stay current on the trends. Your clients relyon you to be a trusted advisor. One way you can do this is to keepa pulse on the current cybersecurity trends happening acrossdifferent industries. Subscribe to cybersecurity publications likeDark Reading and SC Magazine to see if there are any threats thatmight affect your clients, like the ransomware attacks. Inform yourclients if there are any threats they should be aware of andinclude cybersecurity tips and trends in your regularcommunications.

Educate your clients. Provide educationalresources and programs that will teach your clients how to spotpotential threats, especially since they deal with sensitiveinformation. On top of that, stress the importance of connectingwith their information security provider to learn how hackers maytry to access HR systems. Many security providers will also offertraining, not only for the IT department, but also for employeescompany-wide.

Offer a webinar. When it comes to creating asecurity strategy, often your clients won’t know where to start.One way you can give them a comprehensive overview is to offer awebinar on best practices cybersecurity for small businesses. Walkyour clients through the best practices, threats and trends theyshould be aware of. This training will help your clients to betterprotect their company and its sensitive data.

Create a mobile device action plan. Mobiledevices can be difficult to manage, and because of this they cancreate serious security and management hurdles, especially if theyhold confidential information or if the devices can access thecorporate network outside of the office. To mitigate this risk,create a mobile device action plan that you can share with yourclients. This plan should include requiring that employees passwordprotect their mobile devices and install security apps like Avastor Bitdefender. Also be sure it includes recommended reportingprocedures if any mobile devices are stolen or lost.

The world of cyberattacks and cybersecurity is constantlychanging, and there is no one guaranteed way of ensuring yourclients will never get targeted. However, by educating them andkeeping up to date on the latest in security practices, you canhelp keep your clients’ sensitive information safe and secure. Andanything you can do to make HR professionals more productive andsuccessful will further embed you as their trusted advisor.