2013 was a significant year for the IT security industry, due in large part to massive attacks on companies like Target, Michaels and Yahoo. Prior to these near brand-crushing incidents, terms like "hacker," and "data breach" had yet to make their appearance within mainstream media. Security experts predict that more and more organizations will fall victim to similar attacks; hackers spend 100 percent of their time looking for vulnerabilities to capitalize on, and defenders are tasked with multiple competing priorities and need to closely protect all of their vulnerabilities. As a result, organizations must maintain vigilance against such nefarious behavior. Hexis Cyber Solutions, a provider of advanced cybersecurity solutions for commercial companies and government agencies, outlines 10 steps organizations should take to improve their response strategy and better mitigate the impact of attacks in the future.