Alexandria Ransomware Defense and Cleanup Services

Ransomware has been weaponized by cyber extortionists and malicious governments, posing a possibly existential threat to companies that fall victim. Modern versions of ransomware go after all vulnerable resources, including online backup, making even selective recovery a long and costly process. Novel variations of ransomware such as Ryuk, Maze, Sodinokibi, Netwalker, DopplePaymer, LockBit and Nephilim have made the headlines, replacing Locky, Spora, and Petya in prominence, sophistication, and destructive impact.

Most crypto-ransomware penetrations come from innocent-seeming emails with malicious hyperlinks or attachments, and many are so-called "zero-day" attacks that can escape detection by legacy signature-matching antivirus (AV) filters. Although user education and up-front identification are important to protect your network against ransomware, leading practices dictate that you assume some malware will eventually succeed and that you implement a solid backup solution that allows you to recover quickly with little if any damage.

Progent's ProSight Ransomware Vulnerability Assessment is an ultra-affordable service centered around an online discussion with a Progent cybersecurity consultant experienced in ransomware protection and recovery. In the course of this interview Progent will collaborate with your Alexandria network management staff to gather pertinent data concerning your cybersecurity configuration and backup environment. Progent will use this information to generate a Basic Security and Best Practices Assessment detailing how to follow leading practices for configuring and managing your cybersecurity and backup systems to block or clean up after a ransomware assault.

Progent's Basic Security and Best Practices Assessment highlights vital areas related to ransomware defense and restoration recovery. The review covers:

Security

• Proper allocation and use of administration accounts
• Correct NTFS and SMB permissions
• Proper firewall setup
• Secure Remote Desktop Protocol connections
• Recommend AntiVirus tools identification and configuration

• Split permission architecture for backup protection
• Protecting required servers such as AD
• Offsite backups including cloud backup to Microsoft 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 avoid the carnage, the victim is required to send a specified amount of money, typically 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 lost files or avoid its exposure to the public. Files can be altered or erased throughout a network depending on the target's write permissions, and you cannot break the strong encryption technologies used on the compromised files. A common ransomware attack vector is spoofed email, in which the victim is lured into interacting with by a social engineering technique known as spear phishing. This causes the email message to appear to come from a familiar source. Another common attack vector is a poorly secured Remote Desktop Protocol port.

CryptoLocker opened the new age of crypto-ransomware in 2013, and the monetary losses attributed to by the many versions of ransomware is estimated at billions of dollars per year, more than doubling every two years. Notorious attacks include Locky, and Petya. Current headline threats like Ryuk, Sodinokibi and TeslaCrypt are more complex and have wreaked more havoc than older strains. Even if your backup/recovery processes enable you to recover your ransomed files, you can still be threatened by exfiltration, where ransomed data are exposed to the public (known as "doxxing"). Because new variants of ransomware crop up daily, there is no guarantee that traditional signature-based anti-virus filters will detect a new malware. If an attack does show up in an email, it is important that your end users have learned to identify phishing techniques. Your last line of protection is a sound scheme for scheduling and keeping offsite backups plus the use of reliable restoration platforms.

Ask Progent About the ProSight Ransomware Vulnerability Testing in Alexandria
For pricing details and to find out more about how Progent's ProSight Crypto-Ransomware Preparedness Checkup can bolster your defense against ransomware in Alexandria, phone Progent at 800-462-8800 or visit Contact Progent.