Alexandria Ransomware Prevention and Removal Expertise

Ransomware has been weaponized by cybercriminals and malicious states, posing a potentially lethal risk to businesses that are breached. Current variations of ransomware go after all vulnerable resources, including online backup, making even partial restoration a long and costly exercise. New versions of ransomware like Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Netwalker, Phobos, LockBit and Egregor have made the headlines, replacing WannaCry, TeslaCrypt, and Petya in prominence, sophistication, and destructiveness.

Most crypto-ransomware infections are caused by innocuous-looking emails that include dangerous hyperlinks or attachments, and a high percentage are so-called "zero-day" strains that elude detection by legacy signature-based antivirus tools. While user training and frontline detection are critical to defend your network against ransomware attacks, leading practices dictate that you take for granted some attacks will eventually get through and that you prepare a solid backup mechanism that enables you to recover rapidly with minimal losses.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Report is an ultra-affordable service centered around an online interview with a Progent cybersecurity expert skilled in ransomware defense and repair. In the course of this interview Progent will collaborate with your Alexandria network management staff to collect critical data concerning your security profile and backup environment. Progent will utilize this information to create a Basic Security and Best Practices Assessment detailing how to follow leading practices for configuring and administering your cybersecurity and backup solution to prevent or clean up after a ransomware assault.

Progent's Basic Security and Best Practices Report focuses on key issues related to ransomware defense and restoration recovery. The review covers:

Security

• Effective allocation and use of admin accounts
• Assigning NTFS and SMB (Server Message Block) permissions
• Proper firewall settings
• Secure Remote Desktop Protocol access
• Recommend AntiVirus (AV) tools selection and configuration

• Split permission model for backup protection
• Backing up required servers including AD
• Geographically dispersed backups including cloud backup to Azure

About Ransomware
Ransomware is a type of malware that encrypts or deletes a victim's files so they cannot be used or are publicized. Ransomware sometimes locks the victim's computer. To prevent the damage, the target is required to pay a specified amount of money, typically in the form of a crypto currency like Bitcoin, within a short period of time. There is no guarantee that delivering the ransom will recover the damaged files or avoid its publication. Files can be altered or deleted across a network based on the target's write permissions, and you cannot reverse engineer the strong encryption algorithms used on the hostage files. A typical ransomware attack vector is tainted email, whereby the user is lured into interacting with by means of a social engineering exploit known as spear phishing. This causes the email message to appear to come from a familiar sender. Another common attack vector is a poorly protected Remote Desktop Protocol port.

CryptoLocker ushered in the modern era of crypto-ransomware in 2013, and the monetary losses attributed to by the many versions of ransomware is said to be billions of dollars per year, more than doubling every two years. Notorious attacks are Locky, and NotPetya. Current high-profile variants like Ryuk, Maze and Cerber are more complex and have wreaked more havoc than earlier strains. Even if your backup processes enable your business to restore your encrypted data, you can still be hurt by exfiltration, where stolen documents are exposed to the public. Because additional versions of ransomware are launched every day, there is no guarantee that traditional signature-based anti-virus tools will block a new attack. If an attack does appear in an email, it is critical that your users have learned to be aware of phishing techniques. Your last line of defense is a sound scheme for performing and keeping remote backups plus the use of reliable recovery platforms.

Ask Progent About the ProSight Crypto-Ransomware Vulnerability Testing in Alexandria
For pricing details and to learn more about how Progent's ProSight Ransomware Preparedness Review can enhance your defense against crypto-ransomware in Alexandria, call Progent at 800-462-8800 or visit Contact Progent.