Albuquerque Ransomware Protection and Restoration Expertise

Ransomware has become the weapon of choice for the major cyber-crime organizations and bad-actor states, posing a possibly lethal threat to companies that are victimized. The latest strains of crypto-ransomware go after all vulnerable resources, including backup, making even selective restoration a long and expensive process. Novel variations of ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Mailto (aka Netwalker), Phobos, LockBit and Egregor have emerged, replacing WannaCry, Cerber, and Petya in notoriety, sophistication, and destructiveness.

90% of ransomware breaches are the result of innocuous-looking emails that have dangerous hyperlinks or attachments, and many are so-called "zero-day" variants that elude the defenses of traditional signature-based antivirus filters. While user training and up-front detection are important to defend against ransomware attacks, leading practices demand that you assume some malware will eventually get through and that you deploy a strong backup solution that permits you to restore files and services quickly with minimal losses.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Checkup is an ultra-affordable service built around an online discussion with a Progent cybersecurity consultant skilled in ransomware protection and repair. In the course of this interview Progent will work with your Albuquerque IT management staff to collect critical data about your security setup and backup environment. Progent will utilize this data to produce a Basic Security and Best Practices Report detailing how to follow leading practices for implementing and managing your cybersecurity and backup solution to block or clean up after a ransomware attack.

Progent's Basic Security and Best Practices Report highlights key issues related to crypto-ransomware defense and restoration recovery. The review addresses:

Security

• Correct use of admin accounts
• Correct NTFS and SMB (Server Message Block) permissions
• Proper firewall configuration
• Safe RDP access
• Advice about AntiVirus (AV) filtering identification and deployment

• Split permission architecture for backup protection
• Backing up required servers such as Active Directory
• Offsite backups including cloud backup to Microsoft Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts or deletes files so they are unusable or are publicized. Ransomware sometimes locks the victim's computer. To prevent the damage, the victim is required to pay a specified amount of money (the ransom), usually in the form of a crypto currency such as Bitcoin, within a short time window. It is not guaranteed that delivering the extortion price will restore the damaged data or prevent its exposure to the public. Files can be altered or erased throughout a network depending on the target's write permissions, and you cannot solve the strong encryption algorithms used on the hostage files. A common ransomware attack vector is booby-trapped email, in which the victim is tricked into interacting with by a social engineering technique called spear phishing. This causes the email message to look as though it came from a trusted sender. Another common attack vector is an improperly secured RDP port.

CryptoLocker ushered in the new age of ransomware in 2013, and the monetary losses attributed to by different strains of ransomware is estimated at billions of dollars annually, more than doubling every other year. Notorious examples are WannaCry, and NotPetya. Current high-profile variants like Ryuk, Sodinokibi and Spora are more sophisticated and have caused more havoc than earlier strains. Even if your backup procedures allow your business to recover your encrypted data, you can still be threatened by exfiltration, where stolen documents are made public (known as "doxxing"). Because additional variants of ransomware are launched every day, there is no certainty that traditional signature-based anti-virus filters will detect a new attack. If threat does show up in an email, it is important that your end users have learned to be aware of phishing tricks. Your ultimate defense is a solid scheme for performing and keeping remote backups plus the deployment of reliable recovery tools.

Ask Progent About the ProSight Crypto-Ransomware Susceptibility Checkup in Albuquerque
For pricing information and to find out more about how Progent's ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Consultation can enhance your defense against crypto-ransomware in Albuquerque, phone Progent at 800-462-8800 or see Contact Progent.